Young Gilels plays Chopin Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23

Rercorded 1934-1938

Category:

Music

Tags:

• emil
• gilels
• chopin
• ballade
• piano

[ANTiRussia1]

yes, gilels is a weak performer, he plays this ballade as etud , in some parts unreasonably too fast

[truecrypt]

@ANTiRussia1

I think people will enjoy your comment for years to come! ;)

[chopinopus28]

the total pianist. truecrypt,i saw your comment about geniuses. don't you think 2 names are missing? 1,gilels-2 lipatti.just wondering.

[truecrypt]

Very difficult call! ;)

If we limit the amount of piano geniuses by 5-10, Gilels and Lipatti will probably not be there...

But it's really stupid on my part to "categorize" pianists. They are so unique... Thank God we don't have to rate them!

[FlashyCat2008]

truecrypt,

"....Gilels and Lipatti will probably not be there..."

This has to be the most outrageous comment I had read on YT regarding pianists. I agree that I am not that familiar with Gilels's work, but Lipatti? I would expect a better rating from you for a guy whose every recording is considered a benchmark. I am stunned. If you limited the amount of piano geniuses to one, Lipatti would be it.

Okay, so this is my opinion but not even in the top 5 or 10? Who are your picks?

[truecrypt]

Dear FlashyCat,

Please re-read what I said about how stupid the whole idea of "rating" is...

I understand your feelings though...;)

I'm sure if your good self would try to create a list of top 5 pianists, many people would be very disappointed too!

[armpiano]

This is a GREAT pianist. He has a great sense of style! He adopts his sound and his game to the style that he's playing. It's even no use to talk about his fantastic sound!!

[miliona1re]

one of the best performance ever of this ballade if not the best

[gkollias14]

There are a few great pianists these include: Bachaus, Richter, Rachmaninoff, Gilels, Cortot, Horowitz, Yudina, Rubinstein, Lipatti, Paderwsky, Moseiwitch, Schnabel, Kempff, Anda, Gulda, Cziffra, Gieseking, Fischer, Friedman, Ginzburg, Gould, Hess, Haskil, Hoffman, Kapell, Ogdon, Serkin, Sofronitsky, Solomon, Arrau, Katchen, Francois, Godowsky, Michelangeli, Cliburn, Buosoni, Liszt and a few more that do not come to mind.

[forgottenbooks]

Definitely one of the best recordings of this piece ever.

[agliso]

Gilels isone of the greatest pianists.This is a marvellous interpretation.

[Bret6464]

For those who love Gilels, there is another version of this Chopin Ballade on YT, a live performance recorded much later, that is surreal and has extraordinary artistry and immense beauty (on the channel of Ewahartwig) :-))

[Bret6464]

@truecrypt Yes rating the greats is difficult and perhaps exists only for the "rater" :-)

Having said that, Gilels is the true disciple of Rachmaninoff and Rach himself acknowledged Emil as just that. Who are we to contradict Rach? I certainly agree with him :-))

[fledgehog]

@ultracoolhomies yes....the scale down into the reprise of the Eb section is played brilliantly

[Elsenrail29]

@ultracoolhomies yes unmatched by SPEED. But not in terms of beauty imo.

[Elsenrail29]

@GIVASWVHS I strongly recommend you to hear Perahia's and Arrau's versions. I am sure you will reconsider your opinion. regards.