Gilels's anthology of 20 of the Lyric Pieces… is in a class of its own and an absolute must! Whatever else you get for your library, you have to have this - it sets standards which few others have approached.

Here, surely, is a classic recording, one of calibre and status for all time.
Rarely can a great artist have declared his love with such touching candour. By his own admission Gilels discovered in Grieg's Lyric Pieces a 'whole world of intimate feeling' and at the sessions where these were recorded fought tirelessly to capture their intricate mix of innocence and experience. The results are of an unblemished purity, grace and contained eloquence. He brings the same insight and concentration to these apparent trifles as he did to towering masterpieces of the classic repertoire.
The programme proceeds chronologically and one can appreciate the gradual but marked development in Grieg's harmonic and expressive language – from the folk song inspired early works to the more progressive and adventurous later ones. Gilels's fingerwork is exquisite and the sense of total involvement with the music almost religious in feeling.
Never can Debussy's sniping estimate of Grieg', 'a pink bonbon filled with snow' (or DG's dreary accompanying notes), have seemed wider of the mark. The recordings remain as impeccable as the playing. This is a disc for everyone's desert island.

An unmissable selection of Grieg's delightful Lyric Pieces...With Gilels we are in the presence of a great keyboard master whose characterisation and control of colour and articulation are wholly remarkable.