Stalin's favourite [Jewish] virtuoso
08/04/2023
He never curried favor with Stalin, but still became his favorite. Pianist Emil Gilels used his influence on the leader to save others.
The initial round of the First All-Union Competition of Performing Musicians was coming to an end. Both the audience and the jury members were frankly bored. The main contenders for victory had already performed, and the tedious passages of little-known pianists caused only yawns from the audience. And suddenly a frail teenager with fiery red hair climbed onto the stage. At first no one paid any attention to him, but as soon as he started playing, everyone held their breath! After the performance, the hall burst into applause. Even the jury gave a standing ovation - an incredible picture for music competitions. The teenager's name was Emil Gilels, and at that time he was only sixteen years old.
Emil came to the competition from Odessa, where he was born in 1916. His musical gift awoke very early. Little Milya, as he was called in the family, already at the age of two approached the piano and tried to select melodies. And at the age of five he began studying with one of the most famous Odessa music teachers at that time - Yakov Tkach. From him, Gilels inherited the Chopin tradition - after all, Tkach studied with the outstanding pianist Raoul Pugnot, and he, in turn, studied with Georges Mathias, a direct student of Chopin. That is why journalists and music critics subsequently often called Gilels “great-grandson” of Chopin.
Emil Gilels
If the first teacher helped lay the technical foundation, then Berta Mikhailovna Reingbaldundoubtedly played the main role in the development of Gilels the musician . Emil began studying with her at the age of 13 and all his life he called her his number one teacher. She, by the way, discovered that the young genius lacked either musical or general erudition. And she was afraid that because of this he might grow into a very technical, but completely faceless pianist.
Berta Mikhailovna did everything to prevent this: she recommended books to read, introduced her to erudite people and prominent musicians - including introducing her to the great pianist Arthur Rubinstein . Later, having already settled overseas, Rubinstein will say about Gilels: “If he ever comes to the USA, then all I have to do is pack my bags and leave.”
Emil Gilels
Berta Mikhailovna insisted that Mila be allowed to perform in Kharkov at the II All-Ukrainian Piano Competition in 1931: he did not qualify because of his age, he was only 15 years old. But having played there out of competition, he ended up receiving a personal scholarship. And two years later, that same performance took place at the First All-Union Competition, after which Gilels became famous overnight.
The laureates performed at the final concert, and Stalin himself was present in the hall. He invited Gilels to the box and began to talk about his moving to Moscow and studying at the capital's conservatory as an already resolved issue. But, to everyone’s surprise, the young pianist began to “contradict” the leader of the peoples: they say that he already has a teacher in Odessa, and he wants to first graduate from the conservatory there. The hair of the witnesses to this conversation stood on end, but Stalin was impressed by the courage and sincerity of the young man. He invited Emil to visit the Kremlin and complacently “gave a reprieve.”
Emil Gilels
So Gilels came to the capital only in 1935 to enroll in graduate school at the Moscow Conservatory. Many teachers wanted to get such a student, and an unspoken struggle began for the young genius. Emil himself seemed to want to study with the outstanding pianist Konstantin Igumnov, but Heinrich Neuhaus, the then director of the Moscow Conservatory, “crossed the road.” And he took Gilels to his class, where the young man spent three very difficult years.
Neuhaus's teaching style was strikingly different from Berta Mikhailovna's teaching style. If in the latter’s lessons the focus was on the student, then Neuhaus gathered all the graduate students together and gave a kind of master class. In addition, Svyatoslav Richter was one of the master’s favorites. Neuhaus openly stated that for him Richter stands apart - and then everyone else goes on the list. In such an environment, Emil felt uncomfortable.
Emil Gilels
But if Richter became Neuhaus’s favorite, Gilels found himself in favor with Stalin himself. The culmination was the International Eugène Ysaÿe Competition in Brussels in 1938. The Soviet Union was represented by four pianists, including Gilels and his close friend Yakov Flier. All that was needed was a victory to show the West the triumph of Soviet art. As a result, Gilels took first place, and Flier took third.
After this, Stalin, who already singled out Gilels, began to show him special favor. Also in 1938, honors were held in Moscow for the Papaninites who returned from the North Pole. Gilels also performed at the celebration, of which he retained touching memories: “No sooner had I approached the piano than Comrade Stalin, getting up from the table, came close to the stage and began to applaud me. Then, tapping the glass with a knife, he himself restored silence in the hall.”
Emil Gilels
To Gilels's credit, he used this favor solely for the sake of others. In particular, he bowed to the leader in order to save his unloved but great teacher: Neuhaus was arrested during the war and was about to be shot - after all, he was a German. At first, Stalin responded to the request for pardon with a rude refusal. However, Gilels did not give up and tried again. This time Stalin heeded and replaced the execution with forced labor.
However, Gilels did not stop there. When Neuhaus was transported to the Urals, he convinced the Sverdlovsk party leadership that the outstanding pianist would bring more benefit to the region in the regional conservatory, and not in the quarries. Neuhaus was taken off the train and sent to teach at the Ural Conservatory.
Emil Gilels
And Gilels himself went to the front and volunteered for the people’s militia. The Moscow military commissars, in the bustle, did not figure out who was standing in front of them, and sent him to training. The pianist managed to distinguish himself in shooting there and even became the best in his platoon. But two weeks later they missed him, and an order came from the very top: “send to the rear.” As a result, he was evacuated to the same Sverdlovsk. However, he could not sit there - he constantly went to perform in front of the fighters.
After the victory, Gilels was invited to speak to the leaders of the Allied powers at the Potsdam Conference. Stalin personally selected the repertoire, but he had to guess what exactly he wanted. For example, he asked to play “that Chopin with tints.” And Gilels played one thing after another on the piano, but the leader kept frowning: “That’s not it.” The pianist was already in a cold sweat - Stalin was breathing down his neck more and more heavily, and Gilels felt that “things were taking a bad turn.” Suddenly he remembered the Polonaise in A-flat major , and it turned out that it was precisely this that the leader wanted to approve.
Emil Gilels
Such high trust from the leadership of the party and government gave, of course, Gilels certain freedoms. For example, he was one of the first Soviet musicians to be “released” on foreign tours, including to capitalist countries. The pianist traveled all over Europe and visited the USA many times, where his concerts were organized by the famous Sol Hurok , Chaliapin’s impresario.
Gilels was always and everywhere greeted with constant applause - with the exception of a concert in 1968 in Sweden. It took place immediately after troops entered PraguecountriesWarsaw Pact. The pianist went up on stage, but a whistle was heard in the hall. Gilels understood that it was not him who was being booed, but the entire Soviet Union in his person. But the noise in the hall did not subside, so it was impossible to play. “Cancel culture” had not yet been heard of, but it was there in full force and eventually turned, as now, into cancel culture: Gilels was forced to politely bow and leave the stage.
Emil Gilels
But sometimes the all-Union favorite also got in trouble from the Soviet authorities. Thus, being the head of the jury of the 1st International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958, Gilels, together with Dmitri Shostakovich, insisted that the victory be awarded to the American Van Cliburn. He was forgiven for this “political mistake”, but warned: this should not happen again. But at the next competition, he still gave victory to a foreigner - the British public's favorite John Ogden, although he shared it with the Soviet pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy.
But in 1970, Gilels’ health suddenly began to fail, and he withdrew from competitive activities. As well as from teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. He, by the way, did not like being called a professor - although he trained a whole galaxy of famous pianists, including Marina Mdivani, Igor Zhukov and Felix Gottlieb - he believed that because of the tour he devoted too little time to his students. And then, with his health already compromised, he continued to tour like crazy, giving all his strength to concerts. However, health problems took their toll: in 1981, the pianist had a heart attack. But having barely recovered from it, Gilels took up his old ways again: he rushed off on a tour of Yugoslavia, Austria and other countries.
Emil Gilels
At the end of September 1985, having returned from another tour, Gilels went for a routine examination at the Central Kremlin Hospital. I thought about improving my health a little and going on a new tour around the world. But these plans were not destined to come true: just over two weeks later, on October 14, the pianist died of cardiac arrest due to an attack of diabetes.
Once upon a time, the great Sergei Rachmaninov bequeathed a medal to the young Gilels, which at one time was awarded to him. It depicted the profile of Anton Rubinstein with the inscription “Who will replace him.” Rachmaninov believed that Gilels could replace him - and in a certain sense he was right. But after Gilels’ death, the medal did not find a new heir - no one could replace him.