🎼Historical Footage Series 🎶 Emil Gilels, age 61, performing Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat major “Heroic” (Op. 53), in Moscow, 1977. • Gilels was born in 1916 in Odessa, Ukraine. After his parents discovered he had perfect pitch at the age of five, he began piano lessons with Yakov Tkach, a famous piano pedagogue in Odessa. Gilels was a quick learner and made rapid progress, later crediting this strict training with Tkach for establishing the foundation of his technique and in turn, Tkach comme

Emil Gilels (1916–1985) was a Soviet pianist widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. As a musician, he was celebrated for his golden tone, flawless technique, and deep musicality. Gilels excelled in a broad repertoire, from Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann to Russian masters like Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, and Shostakovich. His playing combined clarity with warmth, intellectual depth with emotional intensity, making his interpretations both powerful and poetic. He was a

To honour the 40th anniversary of Emil Gilels’ death, his recordings of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces are being released in this audiophile Original Source Edition. The recordings have been newly cut and mastered from the original 4-track tapes for the first time, and they undoubtedly represent a milestone in piano history. | Deutsche Grammophon - DG