Gelber is an Argentine pianist born in
Buenos Aires, with
Austrian and
French-
Italian descent. His father was a violinist, his mother a pianist. He made his first public appearance at age 5, and commenced studies with
Vincenzo Scaramuzza (the teacher of
Martha Argerich) at age 6. He was confined to bed for a year with
poliomyelitis at age 7, but made his formal recital debut when he was 8 years old. He retains a slight limp but does not need crutches. When he was aged 15, Gelber played the
Schumann Concerto under
Lorin Maazel in his native Buenos Aires, attracting considerable attention. At age 19 he went to Paris to study under
Marguerite Long, and the following year he won 3rd Prize in the
Long-Thibaud Competition. Gelber's career since then has taken him all over the world, and he has appeared with many of the world's great orchestras and conductors. He has made many recordings, including 19 of the complete sonatas of
Beethoven. He specialises in the Classical and Romantic repertory, but came late to
Rachmaninoff, due to the stubbiness of his fingers. He resides in
Monte Carlo and
Buenos Aires, in the art deco
Torre Saint in the neighborhood of Once. == Honours ==