Emil Gilels plays Tchaikovsky’s “Chant Sans Paroles“ Op. 2 No. 3

Today, 19 October 2016, it’s exactly 100 years ago that arguably one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century was born: Emil Gilels. It would be unfair to only describe Gilels as a “super-virtuoso“ in his young(er) years. He would have never won the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1938, for example, if he lacked broad musicality, depth, lyricism, taste and knowledge of style. This is confirmed in a lovely 1940 recording of Tchaikovsky’s “Chant sans paroles“ in F major (No. 3 of “Souvenir de Hapsal“, Opus 2), when the pianist was about 24 years old. Photograph of Gilels at his home in 1940.