Grieg: Lyric Pieces;

Emil Gilels' personal selection of favorite lyric pieces is one of his most praised and best recordings. The pianist obviously selected the pieces with which he felt the strongest identification, and he plays them lovingly, with sprightly rhythms and a rich, singing tone. Gilels was the one who identified himself as second to Sviatoslav Richter--"If you think I'm something, wait until you hear Richter," he supposedly said. But this collection is just as beautiful in its way as Richter's lyric collections. Along with some of his Chopin playing, this Grieg set reminds us that Gilels was a major Romantic pianist. --Leslie Gerber