Emil Gilels Pianist Date of Birth: 19.10.1916 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Emil Gilels

Emil Grigorievich Gilels was born on October 19, 1916, in Odessa. He started studying music at a young age, with his first teacher being I. I. Tkach, who had studied in Paris under the renowned Raoul Pugno (who was a student of Georges Mathias, a pupil of Chopin). Tkach immediately recognized Gilels' exceptional talent, and at the age of 9, he wrote in his evaluation: "In the future, the USSR will be enriched with a pianist of international scale." On June 11, 1929, Gilels gave his first solo concert, and 50 years later, in 1979, he celebrated this event with concerts at the Odessa Opera House and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

In 1930, Gilels enrolled in the Odessa Conservatory under the tutelage of B. M. Reingbald, whom he considered his true musical mentor. Within a year, he participated in the All-Ukrainian Competition of Musicians in Kharkov, where he was heard by Arthur Rubinstein, who later recalled his first encounter with Gilels: "I cannot find words to describe how he played. I can only say that if he ever comes to the United States, I will have nothing to do here."

In 1933, Gilels participated in the First All-Union Competition of Performing Musicians in Moscow, where he defied all predictions regarding the outcome of the competition. He won unequivocally, and his performance of Liszt's paraphrase on Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" left the entire audience standing in awe. This victory made Gilels famous throughout the country, and he was in high demand for performances. However, he was playing so much that he had little time for necessary focused work. With his characteristic determination, Gilels interrupted his concert career and returned to Odessa to study with Reingbald. He completed his studies at the conservatory in November 1935 and then moved to Moscow to join the School of Advanced Studies at the Moscow Conservatory, where he became a student of G. G. Neigauz. Shortly after, he had the opportunity to play Beethoven's Third Concerto with Otto Klemperer conducting the orchestra. Alexander Afinogenov, a playwright, noted in his diary: "Gilels touched the keys, and the piano resonated with purity and depth. And Klemperer conducted the orchestra, as if cushioning it under the piano, creating a soft background for the performer. As a result, the piano sounded even more remarkable, and the audience appreciated it."

In 1938, Gilels achieved another extraordinary triumph at the Eugène Ysaÿe International Piano Competition in Brussels. The competition's prestige was extremely high, and the program was exceptionally challenging. The list of jury members alone was enough to make any musician tremble: Walter Gieseking, Emil von Sauer, Arthur Rubinstein, Robert Casadesus, Samuil Feinberg, Carlo Zecchi, and Leopold Stokowski, among others. The participants were formidable, including Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Gilels emerged as the brilliant victor. Emil von Sauer, a student of Franz Liszt and Nikolai Rubinstein, said that he had not heard such talent in the past half-century, in other words, since his own great teachers.

However, Gilels was not content to rest on his laurels. He continued to work tirelessly, never giving himself a break. In the same year, he completed his studies at the School of Advanced Studies and began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. Then, the Great Patriotic War began. Gilels performed for soldiers, in hospitals, and in the rear. He was among the first to travel to besieged Leningrad. In 1945, he performed in Potsdam at the conference of the heads of government of the USSR, the USA, and Great Britain. After the war, he was tasked with the important mission of representing Soviet art and the victorious country's achievements in many countries. In 1955, he became the first Soviet musician to tour the United States, causing a sensation.

Years passed, and Gilels' concert activities reached global proportions. Wherever he performed, triumphs became almost routine. He collaborated with the most renowned orchestras and conductors, and his recordings reached millions of households. On September 12, 1985, Gilels gave his final concert in Helsinki. One month later, on October 14, he passed away suddenly in Moscow. Gilels had an immense repertoire and was versatile in making "his own" music from different eras and styles, from Mozart to Prokofiev, from Beethoven to Stravinsky.