The Russian Archives - Emil Gilels plays Russian Music
see end of review for track listing
Emil Gilels (piano)
rec. 1951-84
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9265 [3 CDs: 70:21 + 50:54 + 78:37]
Following the demise of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991 several record
companies were quick to release discs “from the archives”. Some
of them claimed to have access to vast stocks of original master tapes of
recordings many of which had never been heard. Whether these claims were true
or not some of those series were short-lived and few companies have continued
over time to release anything “new”. One that is still doing so
is Brilliant Classics and this 3 CD set is a case in point.
I don’t know whether any of the recordings on the set have been heard
before but in any event collectively it is a wonderful document to celebrate
the achievement of one of the greatest pianists of the last century. Born
in Odessa in 1916, Gilels made his debut at the age of twelve giving a recital
of Beethoven, Chopin, Scarlatti and Schumann which was well received. I don’t
know if there is any real accuracy in statements that explain the influences
upon musicians through their teacher’s teachers but if there is then
through Gilels’ teacher there are links back to Chopin and Clementi.
I take my hat off to anyone who can discern those influences, particularly
when he plays the likes of Prokofiev, or am I just being a doubting Thomas?
In any event the first disc is devoted to live recordings of Gilels playing
Prokofiev. I always find it really interesting how one’s tastes develop
over the years because there was a time when I found Prokofiev more difficult
to understand and appreciate than Shostakovich. I think it was that I found
Prokofiev’s music more complex and his rhythms less obvious than Shostakovich.
Now, however, I just adore his music and find his spiky rhythms highly satisfying
and amusing and this is particularly the case with the scherzo of his second
piano sonata which just makes me smile from ear to ear it’s so funny.
Written when Prokofiev was only 20 we can see that his style was already well
formed and though he honed it he didn’t alter his basic ideas much thank
heavens. Gilels had a particular affection for Prokofiev’s third piano
sonata and it is here in a recording from January 1984. The only problem with
live recordings made in winter, as most of these were, is that people cough
more than they do in summer but it is a great recording nevertheless. Gilels
was fortunate enough at eleven years of age to have seen Prokofiev give a
concert of his own music in Odessa in 1927. He made the composer’s music
one of his specialities and was repaid when Prokofiev dedicated his eighth
sonata to Gilels who gave its première in 1944. It remained one his
favourite works to play. Again having been recorded in January 1964 in this
case, we have to put up with even more coughing but putting that aside it
is marvellous to have the dedicatee playing this sonata with the subtlety
he was renowned for as well as well as his insight into Prokofiev’s
unique musical view. Despite the first movement being marked Andante dolce
there are plenty of powerful moments and they present no problems to Gilels
who knew how to hit the keys with sufficient force when required as well as
gently caressing them at other times. I don’t know whether any re-mastering
work was done on these recordings; they are certainly “clean”
enough but the piano itself sounds rather tinny here, though that still does
not detract from the artistry on display. The second movement marked Andante
sognando certainly lives up to it as Gilels sounds as dreamy as a somnambulist.
The sleeper awakes abruptly in the final Vivace which has all Prokofiev’s
special hallmarks including coruscating notes that tumble like rapids that
flash in the brilliance of bright sunlight. It’s no wonder the end brings
rapturous applause from the audience. There are more dreamy moments in the
selection Gilels plays from Visions fugitives Op.22 which are so lovely.
The Toccata Op.11, however, is another example of the way Prokofiev
could create a kind of musical maelstrom with the notes literally hurtling
along. It’s a real white knuckle ride that is a furious and dazzling
display of breathtakingly staggering proportions. Disc one ends with the famous
March from The Love for Three Oranges.
Though I always find it hard to leave Prokofiev the second disc begins with
Scriabin and one could not imagine a collection of Russian music that did
not include him though his music is not typically Russian in any way. Scriabin
created his own totally unique sound-world divorced from any easily identifiable
tradition. Gilels with his sensitivity was an ideal Scriabin interpreter who
was able to reveal every nuance in this most ethereal music. While his power
is often called upon his deft touch is perfect when Scriabin is at his most
otherworldly. The 1984 recording of the 3rd piano sonata is as
fresh sounding as if it had been made today. It’s back to March 1957
for sonata no.4 though but this is also amazingly good, despite the seemingly
inevitable coughing. I’ve recently reviewed Vladimir Feltsman playing
Scriabin and so can compare this rendition with Feltsman’s recorded
just last year. Feltsman takes a more leisurely pace with a recording that
lasts a full one minute and fifteen seconds longer which is quite considerable
for a piece that is still well under ten. With the benefit of modern equipment
and a studio environment it is easy to see why most people would be likely
to choose Feltsman over Gilels but given the choice of having both it is just
great to own his historic recording which is so majestic and insightful. With
Scriabin’s Préludes Op.74 I can also make a comparison
with the Feltsman disc. Gilels’ was recorded in January 1984 like the
3rd sonata and the sound again is excellent to my ears. There is
little to choose between them pianistically and only a single second in length.
I love Scriabin’s markings as with no.4 in this set which are Slow,
vague, indecisive. It was a cruel irony that Scriabin who in 1905 wrote
“I am God! ... I am the peak” should die at the early age of 43
from a shaving cut, though no doubt religious fundamentalists would have an
explanation.
This second disc is completed by Medtner’s Sonata in G minor Op.22
the recording of which dates from January 1954. As the booklet explains, it
was a favourite work, not only of Gilels, but also of Prokofiev and Horowitz
which is very telling. It is interesting that both Scriabin and Medtner were
both pupils of Vasily Safonov at the Moscow Conservatory and there is some
similarity in their late romantic style though Medtner was very definitely
a Russian composer whose nationality is clearly imprinted in his music. There
is no applause at the end of this recording so I imagine it was made in a
studio and so is free from the results of audiences with winter colds; it
is merciful that the artists themselves are either immune from them or know
how to keep them in check! Medtner’s sonata is a gorgeous work that
affords Gilels ample opportunity to show his gifts of style and pace. It is
quite remarkable that a recording that is almost 60 years old should sound
so fresh but so it does.
The final disc in this enjoyable set is more of a typical popular Russian
programme of works by Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Rachmaninov. The recording
details for the bulk of this disc are unknown but are from different dates
I think; the Tchaikovsky strikes me as a studio recording. His 6 Morceaux
Op.19, despite their early opus number, were composed in 1873 when Tchaikovsky
was 33 and are very pretty little pieces that show the composer’s characteristic
flair for melody. We then move on to Glazunov whose Piano Sonata No.2 in
E minor Op.75 Gilels plays with great aplomb. It was written in Glazunov’s
middle period when he was 36 and is substantial though undemanding. This recording
was certainly live; the audience applaud at the end of the each movement (tut,
tut!) and the piano sound is uneven. I think if I’d been responsible
for compiling this set I’d have chosen something else instead of this.
The real meat on this last disc, however, comprises the sequence of 8 works
by Rachmaninov recorded live in December 1977 and that begin with his Daisies
Op.38 No.3. Gilels’ soft touch is just what is required for such
a piece and it is a delightful start to this section. The Vocalise Op.34
No.14 is so very well known and has spawned many versions. Its dreamlike
and floating nature is brought out perfectly here in a well measured and nuanced
account. Moving on to 5 of his preludes we hear probably Rachmaninov’s
most well known work apart from his 2nd Piano Concerto: the wonderful
and moving Prelude in C sharp minor Op.3 No.2 that surely no one is
immune to. It is played here with all the power and majesty required for a
truly great performance. I still find it amazing that anyone could have written
that at the age of 19. One might say “Follow that!” and the Prelude
in B flat Op.23 No.2 comes close but he was 30 by then and 37 by the time
he wrote the one in B Op.32 No.11. This comes between two others from the
Op.23 set, the last of which, played here, in G minor Op.23 No.5, is as famous
as the No.2 and again is so characteristic of Rachmaninov at his romantic
best. If the composer himself with his incredibly long fingers could have
played them better I’d like to hear it - and no doubt it’s available.
The final work of the disc and the set is Rachmaninov’s Étude-tableau
in E flat minor Op.39 No.5 which is a gentle piece.
The booklet notes describe the 20th century as being the start
of the so called Russian ‘piano school’ led by the great piano
composers Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev (and including Medtner and Glazunov)
and which continued through the virtuosos Neuhaus, Yudina, Sofronitsky, down
to the LP generation of Richter and Gilels and which has continued with Ashkenazy,
Pletnev and Kissin, continuing today with many others. One could write a book
if one hasn’t already been about this Russian phenomenon which also
embraces violinists and cellists among others. The ‘piano school’
however, is such a phenomenon that the majority of the greatest pianists in
the last 100 plus years have been of that school. That country made the art
of pianism its own in the same way as it made ballet. Emil Gilels who won
so many prizes was without a doubt one of the most outstanding examples of
that school and the history of the piano will always include a section about
him. When he died unexpectedly in 1985 at the age of 69 (not nearly 80 as
quoted in the notes) the world lost a superstar in the true sense of the word.
That is why sets like this are cherished possessions for lovers of the piano
and at Brilliant Classics’ brilliant prices nobody will want to be without
this one.
Steve Arloff
Sets like this are cherished possessions for lovers of the piano.
Track listing
CD 1
Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
1-4. Piano Sonata No.2 in D minor Op.14 [17:34]; 5. Piano Sonata No.3 in A
minor Op.28 [8:18]; 6-8. Piano Sonata No.8 in B flat Op.84 [28:27]; 9.Visions
fugitives Op.22 (selection) [9:42]; 10.Toccata Op.11 [4:34]; 11. March (from
The Love for Three Oranges) [1:40]
CD 2
Alexander SCRIABIN (1872-1915)
1-3. Piano Sonata No.3 in F sharp minor Op.23 [20:46]; 4. Piano Sonata No.4
in F sharp minor Op.30 [7:08]; 5-9. Preludes Op. 74 [6:09]
Nicolai MEDTNER (1880-1951)
10. Sonata in G minor Op.22 [16:32]
CD 3
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
1-6. 6 Morceaux Op.19 [25:31]
Alexander GLAZUNOV (1865-1936)
7-9. Piano Sonata No.2 in E minor Op.75 [22:41]
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
10. Daisies [2:23]; 11. Vocalise [6:00]; 12-16. 5 Preludes [17:03]; 17. Étude-tableau
in E flat minor Op.39 No.5 [4:49]
rec. May 1951 (CD1:1-4); January 1954 (CD2:10); March 1957 (CD2:4); January
1967 (CD1:6-8); December 1977 (CD3: 10-17); January 1984 (CD1: 5; CD2:1-3,
5-9); Unknown (CD1: 9-11; CD3:1-9)