---
product_id: 44838612
title: "Icon: Emil Gilels - Complete EMI Recordings: 1954-1972"
brand: "emil gilels"
price: "€ 200.37"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.sk/products/44838612-icon-emil-gilels-complete-emi-recordings-1954-1972
store_origin: SK
region: Slovakia
---

# Icon: Emil Gilels - Complete EMI Recordings: 1954-1972

**Brand:** emil gilels
**Price:** € 200.37
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Icon: Emil Gilels - Complete EMI Recordings: 1954-1972 by emil gilels
- **How much does it cost?** € 200.37 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sk](https://www.desertcart.sk/products/44838612-icon-emil-gilels-complete-emi-recordings-1954-1972)

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## Description

I will ship by EMS or SAL items in stock in Japan. It is approximately 7-14days on delivery date. You wholeheartedly support customers as satisfactory. Thank you for you seeing it.

## Images

![Icon: Emil Gilels - Complete EMI Recordings: 1954-1972 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/717U9RHNDvL.jpg)
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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Icon: Emil Gilels - Complete EMI Recordings: 1954-1972
  

*by B***R on Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2011*

EMIL GILES -ONE OF THE GREATEST PIANIST OF ALL TIME. VERY REASONABLY PRICED AND SHOULD BE IN EVERY CLASSICAL PIANO ENTHUSIAST COLLECTION

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    This is [almost] the lot from EMI!
  

*by D***A on Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2011*

This Icon Box, which is excellent value for money [at lest in the UK - in the USA it may be more expensive] claims to contain all the recordings the great Russian pianist made for EMI. That seems not quite true, as he recorded Schumann's Nachtstucke for EMI in London in the late 60s, and they are missing for the set; probably because the rights belong to the Russian label, Melodya.All items were recorded between 1954 and 1972; in Paris, London, Cleveland and New York.The repertoire here is somewhat limited, insofar as we have two complete cycles of the Beethoven concertos - the earlier made in Europe with different conductors between 1954 [No.3 in mono] and 1957 [4&5 in stereo]; and the latter in Cleveland with Szell in 1968. [Frankly, I greatly prefer Szell's earlier set with Leon Fleischer.] In addition there are three short sets of Beethoven variations, but no sonatas. There are the three Tchaikovsky concertos from 1972, and earlier [mono] versions of Rachmaninoff 3 and Saint-Saens 2. Solo works include a Mozart sonata, K570; Chopin's Funeral March sonata, and three of the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 [1,5&24]. There is much to admire here: for me, the highlights are the earlier Beethoven 4, with Leopold Ludwig, the Saint-Saens, and the Shostakovich - truly stunning playing.But this set leaves out [because recorded for other companies] many of the works for which Gilels is best known. There is no Scarlatti, Bach, Schubert, Schumann, Grieg, Brahms or Liszt here; no chamber music, no Beethoven sonatas. For those one must go to his later recordings for DGG, and the small but excellent CBS and RCA legacy. Gilels also left many live performances; from London, Moscow, Salzburg, Italy and elsewhere: and though these sometimes reveal a pianist who is not note-perfect, they often give a better, and more immediate picture of the great Lion of the Keyboard who will be familiar to those who heard him in the flesh.So while it is good to have [almost] all his EMI tapings gathered together in a single bargain box, those interested in the pianist's wider repertoire will need to look elsewhere for works with which he is most closely associated; in particular the Brahms concertos and late solo works, the Beethoven sonatas, and his Schubert and Liszt sonatas and shorter works, including his incomparabe Grieg Lyric Pieces.But this set is not to be missed at the price [around $20 from some sellers], notwithstanding the Beethoven concerto duplications.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 3.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    An overstuffed box set with not enough outstanding performances
  

*by H***T on Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2011*

EMI's "Icon" series sometimes unearths some fairly rare or out-of-print recordings, while most of the time it is an exercise in repackaging, admittedly at a very good price.  Unless you are a Gilels completist, however, I'd steer clear of this 9-CD box set. A good deal of room is taken by two complete Beethoven concerto cycles, the first in mixed mono and stereo with Andre Vandernoot and Leopold Ludwig (both routine), the second in stereo with Szell and the Clevelanders. both are unimaginative accounts, despite the pianist's undoubted power and authority, and the later cycle is particularly unfortunate in that Szell was in physical decline. I detected almost no change in Gilels' interpretations in the span between 1954 and 1970. Gilels also recorded the sets of solo Beethoven theme and variations in 1970, and these two are authoritative but heavy-handed. He overwhelms the Saint-Saens Cto. #2 in an impressive way but has not much to say in the Rachmaninov third.And so it goes. I once thought that this pianist was fiery and interesting in his younger years but grew dull and conventional in maturity, and in general I still hold to that. by the time he died in 1985, a few days before turning 69, he was a revered artist, so my lack of enthusiasm is a minority report.  Even so, I think DG got the best of late Gilels, not EMI. The best of all comes from reprint labels that issue his Russian recordings and live concerts, where he was at is best. In this box set I enjoyed some items: a sober but absorbing Mozart Sonata in B-flat K. 570, and a resounding Tchaikovsky Piano Cto. #2 in its old abridged form (which some may still prefer in this long-winded work). It and the infinitely more popular Tchaikovsky first are vigorously conducted by Lorin Maazel with the New Philharmonia Orch., but EMI has done nothing to improve their coarse recorded sound. the same goes for the unfinished and negligible Cto. #3.the best that could have been gleaned from the vaults would have filled only four or five CDs, but they would have served Gilels the artist better than this motley overstuffed collection. True believers are free to disagree, of course.Here are the complete contents:Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 (complete)32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor, WoO 8012 Variations on a Russian Dance, WoO 716 Variations on an Original Theme 'Die Ruinen von Athen', Op. 76Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 'Marche funèbre'Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 17 in B flat major, K570Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22Shostakovich: Prelude & Fugue for piano, Op. 87 No. 5 in D majorPrelude & Fugue for piano, Op. 87 No. 24 in D minorPrelude & Fugue for piano, Op. 87 No. 1 in C majorTchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 44(edited Siloti)Piano Concerto No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 75

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*Product available on Desertcart Slovakia*
*Store origin: SK*
*Last updated: 2026-02-08*