Early Recordings Vol.2

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In large-scale sonatas by Glazunov, Medtner and Prokofiev, his playing glows with conviction and includes passagework spun off with an all-Russian legato.
Then, his outwardly formidable and unsmiling demeanour on the concert platform is erased in a performance of Tchaikovsky's "Chant sans paroles" of a beguiling charm.
Here was a real artist, and a real communicator. Highly recommended.

Early Recordings Vol.1

ausgezeichnet

Here, in performance after performance, is the sort of playing that made Rubinstein, on hearing the teenage Gilels in Russia, exclaim, 'if that boy ever comes to America I might as well pack my bags and retire'. Even in dated sound an 'elemental virtuoso gift' and a 'sonority rich in noble metal' are omnipresent.
And whether you hear Gilels in his exquisite Rameau, the thunderous brilliance of his Godowsky or in the way his decorations in Smetana's A minor Polka shimmer like the beating of a hummingbird's wings, you will hear a nonpareil pianism.
True, in years to come Gilels would find greater depth than his enviably spruce and immaculately turned Mozart conveys, but even here the playing is of an aristocratic distinction and finesse. Highly recommended.