Notable Repertoire and Assessment
Gilels is universally admired for his superb technical control and burnished tone.
He had an extensive repertoire, from baroque to late Romantic and 20th century classical composers. His interpretations of the central German-Austrian classics formed the core of his repertoire, in particular Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann; but he was equally illuminative with Scarlatti and 20th-century composers such as Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev. His Liszt was also first-class, and his recordings of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 and the Sonata in B minor have acquired classic status in some circles.
Gilels premiered Prokofiev's 8th Piano Sonata, dedicated to Mira Mendelssohn, on December 30, 1944, in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
He was in the midst of completing a recording cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas for the German record company Deutsche Grammophon when he died. His recording of the "Hammerklavier" Sonata received a Gramophone Award in 1984.
Gilels recorded with his daughter Elena Gilels, including Mozart's double piano concerto with Karl Böhm and the Vienna Philharmonic and Schubert's Fantasie in F minor for piano duet. He also made some outstanding chamber recordings with the violinist Leonid Kogan and the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.
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