Emil Gilels

The Scarlatti, Debussy and Beethoven were recorded live in London in 1984, towards the end of Gilels’s life; he’s dazzing in the Russian repertoire captured in 1957. The later recital is magisterial, but he’s struggling. Jessica Duchen

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Jessica Duchen

Published: January 20, 2012 at 4:27 pm

COMPOSERS: Beethoven,Debussy,Prokofiev,Scarlatti,Scriabin
LABELS: BBC Legends
WORKS: Piano Sonatas by Beethoven (No. 27), Scriabin (No. 4) & Prokofiev (No. 3); plus works by D Scarlatti and Debussy
PERFORMER: Emil Gilels (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: BBCL 4261-2

Jessica Duchen

Journalist and Critic, BBC Music Magazine

Jessica Duchen studied music at Cambridge University and was the classical music correspondent for The Independent from 2004 to 2016. She has also written for The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, BBC Music Magazine and the JC, among others. Jessica Duchen has written librettos include numerous choral works and operas for the composer Roxanna Panufnik, including Silver Birch, commissioned by Garsington Opera and shortlisted for an International Opera Award in 2018. Two more works based on stories by Oscar Wilde were commissioned for Garsington’s Youth Company, The Happy Princess with composer Paul Fincham (2019) and The Selfish Giant with John Barber, which fell victim to lockdown, this has been postponed to 2021.