Ludwig van Beethoven: Emil Gilels plays... (ICA Classics Audio CD)

Emil Gilels (piano)
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Sir Adrian Boult, conductor


These archive recordings are extremely rare and have never been issued before. The live performances from London’s Royal Festival Hall in 1967 captures Gilels at his best, playing in front of an audience away from the confines of the studio. His earlier recordings were all made in the studio and date back to 1954 and 1957 (both no longer available) as well as a complete set with Szell in 1968 where the recorded sound came under some criticism.

William Mann in the Times wrote after the concert of Concerto No.3, “For all his truly Beethovenian brio in the first movement, Gilels never allowed this to get the better of the clarity and firmness of his phraseology, indeed his opening was like chiselled stone. There was immense dignity in the Largo and the Rondo, taken at what I thought to be exactly the right speed, came across with remarkable vivacity”. Every critic praised Boult’s accompaniments of both concertos.

Excellent stereo sound remastered by Paul Baily.