Edvard Grieg - Lyric Pieces (Emil Gilels)

Information

Composer: Edvard Grieg

1. Lyric Pieces, Op. 12: 1. Arietta
2. Lyric Pieces, Op. 38: 1. Berceuse
3. Lyric Pieces, Op. 43: 1. Sommerfugl (Butterfly)
4. Lyric Pieces, Op. 43: 2. Ensom vandrer (Solitary Traveller)
5. Lyric Pieces, Op. 47: 2. Albumblad (Album Leaf)
6. Lyric Pieces, Op. 47: 3. Melodie
7. Lyric Pieces, Op. 47: 4. Halling
8. Lyric Pieces, Op. 54: 4. Notturno
9. Lyric Pieces, Op. 54: 5. Scherzo
10. Lyric Pieces, Op. 57: 6. Hjemve (Homesickness)
11. Lyric Pieces, Op. 62: 4. Bækken (Brooklet)
12. Lyric Pieces, Op. 62: 6. Hjemad (Homeward)
13. Lyric Pieces, Op. 65: 5. I Balladetone (In Ballad Style)
14. Lyric Pieces, Op. 68: 2. Bestemors menuett (Grandmother's Minuet)
15. Lyric Pieces, Op. 68: 3. For dine Føtter (At Your Feet)
16. Lyric Pieces, Op. 68: 5. Bådnlåt (At the Cradle)
17. Lyric Pieces, Op. 71: 1. Der var engang (Once Upon A Time)
18. Lyric Pieces, Op. 71: 3. Småtroll (Puck)
19. Lyric Pieces, Op. 71: 6. Forbi (Gone)
20. Lyric Pieces, Op. 71: 7. Efterklang (Remembrances)

Emil Gilels, piano
Date: 1974
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4497212

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Review

Here, surely, is a classic recording, one of calibre and status for all time. Rarely can a great artist have declared his love with such touching candour. By his own admission Gilels discovered in Grieg’s Lyric Pieces a “whole world of intimate feeling” and at the 1974 sessions fought tirelessly to capture their intricate mix of innocence and experience. The results are of an unblemished purity, grace and contained eloquence. Listen to the silvery transparency he achieves at 0'42'' in Solitary traveller (and again 11 bars later), to bittersweet reverie resolved in total lucidity, or to Melody, where he turns the composer’s gentle allegretto into an acute sense of elegy, autumnal withdrawal and introspection. With what apparent ease he locates the Scherzo’s central piu tranquillo, making it break like some magical dawn across the music’s hallucinatory flight. His realignment of voices at the end of Ballad captures precisely the way sadness turns to grief, to an eternal sense of loss, and – in supreme contrast – his Puck, taken at an electrifying pace, glints with malevolence as well as more acceptable pranks. At your feet, music which at times might be mistaken for one of Liszt’s late, dark-hued utterances, quivers with barely suppressed ardour and in the final Remembrances, where Grieg transforms his opening Arietta into the most subtle valediction, Gilels registers every nuance and modulation with an astonishing yet unobtrusive sensitivity.

Never can Debussy’s sniping estimate of Grieg, “a pink bonbon filled with snow” (or DG’s dreary accompanying notes), have seemed wider of the mark. The recordings remain as impeccable as the playing. This is a disc for everyone’s desert island.

-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone

More reviews:

BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****

http://www.amazon.com/Grieg-Lyric-Pieces-Emil-Gilels/dp/B000001GX2

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Edvard Grieg (15 June 1843, Bergen – 4 September 1907, Bergen) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions put the music of Norway in the international spectrum. He is the most celebrated person from the city of Bergen, with numerous statues depicting his image, and many cultural entities named after him
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Grieg

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Emil Gilels (October 19, 1916 – October 14, 1985) was a Soviet pianist, widely regarded one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. He is universally admired for his superb technical control and burnished tone. Gilels had an extensive repertoire, range from from baroque to late Romantic and 20th century. His interpretations of the central German-Austrian classics formed the core of his repertoire. He also performed and recorded chamber music with Leonid Kogan, Mstislav Rostropovich and duet with his daughter, Elena.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Gilels

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