Emil Gilels was one of a remarkable generation of Russian pianists who, having long been established in their homeland, began to appear overseas only in the Fifties.

Born in Odessa, he studied in Moscow under Heinrich Neuhaus, probably the century's most celebrated piano teacher.

Neuhaus described his pupil's rich tone as "20-carat gold" and compared it to the voices of the greatest singers.

Gilels' flawless and powerful technique was deployed in everything from Bach and Beethoven to Bartok and he was especially attuned to the works of Prokofiev, who dedicated his Eighth Sonata to him. Gilels made his US debut in 1955, his UK in 1959.

According to fellow Neuhaus protege Sviatoslav Richter, Gilels had a "frightful temperament", was "always sulking" and was "pathologically jealous".

There was an unpleasant episode in the early Sixties when Gilels publicly disowned his ailing old teacher, claiming he had never studied with him.

In 1985, Gilels booked into the Kremlin Hospital for a routine check-up before an overseas tour and was given an injection.

Three minutes later, he was dead. The doctors, political appointees, had given him the wrong injection. He was 68.

-Roger Moodiman, Marine Parade, Brighton