EMIL GILELS (1916-1985)

Early Recordings Vol. 1 1935-1951

RAMEAU: Suite for harpsichord in E minor: X: La villageoise; V: Le rappel des oiseaux

GODOWSKY: Renaissance, Book 2: Gigue in E major, after Loeillet

MOZART: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457

SCHUMANN: Toccata in C, Op. 7; Fantasiestücke, Op. 12: No. 7: Traumes Wirren; Spanisches Liederspiel, Op. 74; No. 10: Der Kontrabandiste (arr. C. Tausig)

MENDELSSOHN: 3 Fantaisies ou caprices, Op. 16: No 2: Scherzo; Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 3, Op. 38: No. 18 in A flat major, Op. 38, No. 6, ‘Duetto’

SMETANA: Czech Dances, Book 1: No. 2: Polka in A minor; No. 3: Polka in F major

DEBUSSY: Suite bergamasque: III : Clair de lune; Claude Debussy, arr. Borwick: Nocturnes: No. 2: Fêtes

RAVEL: Le Tombeau de Couperin:I: Prélude; III: Forlane; VI: Toccata

All tracks recorded in the USSR, 1935-1951

Emil Gilels was one of the greatest Russian pianists of the twentieth century, born in Odessa in 1916.

The recordings on this first disc of his early recordings, made in the USSR, come from the first stage of Gilels’s career and include his first known recordings from1935.

Leopold Godowsky’s arrangement of the Gigue by Jean-Baptiste Loeillet immediately shows the immense power the nineteen-year old Gilels had at the keyboard. His playing, especially in his youth, was fiery, volatile and exciting, and even late in his career it still retained grandeur and sweep of a great master in the Russian tradition.

“Gilels had a sense of grandeur tempered by discipline and respect for the text….strong and massive without being harsh…. a fine pianist.” BBC Music Magazine

“Here was a real artist, and a real communicator.” BBC Music Magazine

Naxos Historical 8111350