Emil Gilels - Scarlatti - 26 Keyboard Sonatas by Emil Gilels (2022) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Emil Grigoryevich Gilels[a] (19 October 1916 – 14 October 1985) was a Russian pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time.

Gilels was born to a Jewish family on 19 October 1916 (6 October, Old Style) in Odessa (then part of the Russian Empire, and now Ukraine) to Gesya and Grigory Gilels. His father worked as a clerk in a sugar refinery. His sister Elizaveta, three years his junior, was a renowned violinist.
Emil Gilels and his sister, the violinist Elizabeth.

Gilels had perfect pitch, and at the age of five-and-a-half, he began lessons with Yakov Tkach [ru], a famous piano pedagogue in Odessa. A quick learner, he was playing all three volumes of Loeschhorn's studies within a few months, and soon afterwards Clementi and Mozart sonatinas. Gilels later credited this strict training with Tkach for establishing the foundation of his technique. In turn, Tkach commented of Gilels, using a diminutive, "Milya Gilels possesses the abilities of one who is born solely for the purpose of becoming a pianist, and that with the required attention to his development, the USSR would in the future enrich itself with the acquisition of a world-renowned pianist."
Pianists Emil Gilels (left) and Yakov Flier who took first and third prizes respectively at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels, Belgium. Pravda newspaper (Soviet Union). May 1938.

In May 1929, aged 12, Gilels gave his first public concert. In 1929, Gilels was accepted to the Odessa Conservatory [ru] into the class of Bertha Reingbald [ru]. Under the tutelage of Reingbald, Gilels broadened his range of cultural interests, with a particular aptitude for history and literature. In 1932, Arthur Rubinstein visited the Odessa Conservatory and met Gilels, and the two of them remained friends through the remainder of Rubinstein's life. Like Tkach, Reingbald carefully guided Gilels in terms of allowing him to give live concerts, and protected her student from excessive concert performances. He competed in the All-Soviet piano competition, despite being below the age limit to participate, but won a scholarship from the jury.

In 1932, Gilels first visited Heinrich Neuhaus. In 1933, Gilels participated in the First All-Union Competition of Performers in Moscow, and won first prize by unanimous decision. This win made Gilels famous throughout the USSR, and led to a nationwide concert tour. However, the stresses of touring led Gilels to curtail his touring and to return to Odessa, to conclude his studies, even declining an invitation to transfer to the Moscow Conservatory. Gilels subsequently regarded Reingbald as his true teacher, mentor and lifelong friend.

Gilels graduated from the Odessa Conservatory in the autumn of 1935. Subsequently, he was accepted into the class of Heinrich Neuhaus as a postgraduate student at the Moscow Conservatory, and Gilels renewed his commitment to giving concerts. In 1936, he participated in his first international competition, the International Vienna Music Academy Competition. Gilels took the second place award, while his friend and fellow student Yakov Flier was the first prize winner. Two years later, in 1938, both Gilels and Flier participated in the Ysaÿe International Festival (Queen Elisabeth Competition) in Brussels. Gilels was awarded first prize, and Flier took third prize. Gilels completed his studies in Moscow in 1938.

TRACKLIST

1. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K. 141 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1960)
2. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in F Major, K. 518 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1960)
3. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K. 32 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1960)
4. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in F minor, K. 466 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1960)
5. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in A Major, K. 533 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1960)
6. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in B minor, K. 27 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1960)
7. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K. 125 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1960)
8. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K. 141 (Remastered 2022, London 1957)
9. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in C sharp minor, K. 247 (Remastered 2022, London 1957)
10. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in B minor, K. 27 (Remastered 2022, London 1957)
11. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in A Major, K. 533 (Remastered 2022, London 1957)
12. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K. 125 (Remastered 2022, London 1957)
13. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K. 141 (Remastered 2022, London 1984)
14. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in F Major, K. 518 (Remastered 2022, London 1984)
15. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K. 32 (Remastered 2022, London 1984)
16. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in F minor, K. 466 (Remastered 2022, London 1984)
17. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in A Major, K. 533 (Remastered 2022, London 1984)
18. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in B minor, K. 27 (Remastered 2022, London 1984)
19. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K. 125 (Remastered 2022, London 1984)
20. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in E Major, K. 380 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1955)
21. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in B minor, K. 27 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1955)
22. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in A Major, K. 113 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1955)
23. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in C Major, K. 159 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1955)
24. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K. 125 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1955)
25. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K. 141 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1955)
26. Emil Gilels - Keyboard Sonata in A Major, K. 533 (Remastered 2022, Moscow 1955)



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