Emil Gilels plays Beethoven

Apologies, in advance, to anyone expecting to get a discourse on the subject, the likes of which Todd would provide, my knowledge of the sonatas is not nearly up to that (and my listening to this set has not been nearly exhaustive enough).

At the recommendation of Graham, and one or two others, I picked up this set of Emil Gilels playing almost all of Beethoven's sonatas (cheap at just over £20 for the 9 discs). Sadly Gilels didn't live to complete the survey and works such as the op.2/1 and op.111 are missing, however, most of the major sonatas are present (including some of my favourites such as the op.49/2, which escaped Solomon's survey and the op.79 are there as well as most of the most famous ones and, I think, all the named sonatas).

My first impression was pretty favourable. At Graham's suggestion (he having asked me to compare), I jumped in with the op79. And how different from the reading that Paul Lewis provides. Of course, Lewis has an unfair advantage over Gilels in that I have experienced his playing live and thus the CD enables me to recapture that magic in a way that is not possible with Gilels. Gilels goes much quicker than Lewis and it's a wonderfully exiting reading (I much prefer it to both Kempff and Barenboim which both feel a little tame to me). That said, I think in his haste Gilels loses the beauty that Lewis manages to capture.

After this I heading straight for the first disc, which contains the op.2 sonatas 2 and 3 and here the experience was more mixed. There is something rather deliberate, even clinical about Gilels' playing. In a way, what it most reminds me of is Helmut Walcha playing Bach - the intricate logic of the musical construction that he brings out. However, while I think that works extremely well for Bach, I like it much less in Beethoven. It works well in the quicker movements (as the op.79 attests) but saps the slow of much of their beauty. It also contributes to a rather safe feel that much of what I have listened to exhibits - and I don't think Beethoven should really feel safe in quite the predictable way it seems to here.

Wondering if the op.2s are to blame, I cast my net wider, but found many of the works I have so far tried. The op.27/2 is nice enough, but not nearly so haunting as Kempff in the slow movement and not nearly his fire in the succeeding ones. I find his op.49/2 horribly dull. There also seems to be an issue for me in terms of thumping. I am, probably, somewhat oversensitive in what I consider pianists striking the keyboard over-hard. However, what has astonished me most, amongst the many things that have done so, with regard to Lewis's playing is the volume he can draw without nasty percussive thumps or the tinny sound that can sometimes occur (and is my principle complaint with Gilels in this regard) with too much volume - this is particularly apparent in the Hammerklavier. The Appassionata lacks the firey intensity and, well, passion that Lewis managed in concert the other evening. But, again and again, what really spoils these works for me is that overly deliberate and clinical playing I mentioned above.

To be sure there are nice things here, the op.79 and I very much like the second movement of the op.109 (for similar reasons), however not so much the first movement and, compared to Uchida's disc of the last 3, which I also picked recently, it doesn't keep finding its way back into my CD player.

I should caveat all this with the fact that I am intensely picky about my pianism and what I like and dislike. I know others love what Gilels has to offer (and there is certainly some remarkable playing and, while it often moves me little, technique here) and would urge those who haven't heard any to give it a try. For me though, I think the set will soon be moving on.

As to my next foray into Beethoven's keyboard writing, I have my eye on one of Alfred Brendel's sets (after all, Mr Lewis is a former pupil of his..... and he too has impressed me in the concert hall).

regards, Tam