Gilels

[ gi-lelz; Russian gyee-lyils ]

noun

1. E·mil (Gri·go·rye·vich) [ee, -mil gri-, gawr, -y, uh, -vich, ey, -mil, e-, myeel, g, r, yi-, gaw, -, r, yi-vyich], 1916–85, Russian pianist.

Example Sentences

He long loved Emil Gilels’s recording of “Le Rappel des Oiseaux,” but it wasn’t until Mr. Olafsson was awaiting the birth of his first child last spring that he read through more.

From New York Times

In a book about “The Lives of Others,” he wrote that, while struggling to come up with movie premises for an assignment, he put on a recording of the Russian pianist Emil Gilels playing the “Moonlight” Sonata.

From The New Yorker

So a nervous Emil Gilels, a pianist, was dispatched to see the minister of culture, and the minister went trembling to report to the Communist Party chief, Nikita Khrushchev, who was just back from reimposing Russian terror in Budapest.

From Economist

For one thing, he’s a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with Heinrich Neuhaus, the famous teacher of Richter and Gilels.

From Washington Post

After each of my performances, the jury—which included such great pianists as Emil Gilels, Alexander Goldenweiser and Annie Fischer—stood up.

From Wall Street Journal