The rest of the disc is fantastic too. The Liszt fantasia on Le nozze de Figaro (completed by Busoni) showcases Gilels’ trademark combination of bravura and good taste…

The Chopin’s another story again: the two polonaises are in noble, gallant readings, with the legendary ‘Heroic’ Op 53 showcasing Gilels’ command of the epic and care over detail at once. The Ballade is excellently done, with real poetry and gentleness when called for but a powerfully angry final minute (those haunting quiet chords in the coda are excellently rendered). It rounds out a generous 80 minutes of fascinating playing.

Ward Marston’s sound restoration is heroic as always. For casual listeners, the rewards of these excellent recordings are to be had in the hearing. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review

Gilels was both the grandest and most lyric of virtuosos. His Scarlatti is warm-hearted and romantic in a way current in Russia at the time of these recordings; and if his Chopin is more sober-suited, less unforgettably exultant and heroic than, say, Rubinstein’s, it is never without Gilels’s indelible quality. His Liszt, on the other hand, is overwhelming in its pulverising strength and brilliance (try the final pages of the Figaro Fantasy), a display of formidable but effortless virtuosity complemented by that seamless legato and cantabile for which he was famous. A special thanks, then, to all those who have made this issue possible, to the inexhaustible piano archive housed at the University of Maryland, to Ward Marston for his restoration and to Judith Raynor for her unearthing of new biographical information. © 2012 Gramophone

Del primero, Gilels realiza un trabajo espléndido que olvida por completo el clave para insuflar vitalidad a raudales a cada sonata. Aprovechando las gradaciones dinámicas y pedalizaciones que le ofrece el piano, Gilels cautiva por carácter único y su honda expresividad (K 27). Respecto al segundo, se pone de manifiesto una vez más lo sabido: el ruso era un auténtico virtuoso al que no se le resistía partitura alguna. En la Fantasía Fígaro resulta impresionante ver cómo recorre el piano sin esfuerzo aparente, dominando absolutamente el instrumento. No obstante, con Chopin se pone en juego el lado más poético de Gilels, un auténtico espíritu romántico cuya Balada núm. 1 es ejemplar. La melodía está cantada como nunca, y los pasajes más movidos nunca resultan gratuitos: todo está al servicio de la expresividad. El grado de pasión es considerable pero nunca exagerado. Las Polonesas –que parecen un juego de niños– completan un disco básico para conocer al personaje. © 2012 Ritmo