CD 1 of this edition probably contains all the pre-war recordings made by the exceptional pianist between 1935 and
1941. Positively legendary status was attained by the recording of the devilishly difficult Fantasy on themes from
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’, a piece that Franz Liszt (1811–1886) began and Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924) completed. Gilels also mastered a wealth of other virtuosic works including the Prelude in G
minor and Etude-tableau in C minor by Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943). In fact, the great pianist and composer
later saw Gilels as his only true successor.

CDs 2 to 13 of this edition do not follow the chronology of the artist’s career and instead, for the most part, place the works in the order in which they were composed. The Baroque period is represented by the landmark works of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), George Frideric Handel (1685– 1759) and Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757). 13 of the latter’s 555 sonatas were performed by Gilels on the recordings presented here. Also included, though, are
compositions by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764), the Italian Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788). But this unique box set also contains works from Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven.