In 1930, Emil Gilels entered the Odessa Music and Drama Institute named after Beethoven (later the Odessa Conservatory), where he studied in the class of Berta Reingbald. She served as his main mentor, and Gilels subsequently referred to her as his "teacher-friend."
Gilels authored articles for the journal "Soviet Music," including one dedicated to Reingbald. In 1974, he performed a special concert in Odessa to commemorate the 30th anniversary of her death.
