Concert "Major League. The World`s Best Pianists" Series. John Lill, piano (UK) Moscow International Musical Arts Center. Grand Hall
Schedule for "Major League. The World`s Best Pianists" Series. John Lill, piano (UK) 2022
"Major League. The World's Best Pianists" Series
John Lill, piano (UK)
When it comes to playing piano, John Lill is firmly old
school. A true keyboard lion, he's capable of tackling anything that the great
romantic concertos can throw at him. That's how he made his name, back in 1970,
as winner of the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition - a spectacular
achievement for a British pianist. However, that's not what makes Lill so
respected.
At the centre of his career has been a life-long
engagement with the classical masters, particularly Beethoven. Lill feels that
his affinity for Beethoven goes beyond the standard performer/composer
relationship, and many have found his claims of a paranormal connection to be
faintly embarrassing. Still, the greatest pianists often tread that fine line
between eccentricity and genius, and Lill's playing continues to fall firmly on
the side of the latter.
You can judge for yourself at the recital, which begins,
naturally enough, with Beethoven's crowd-pleasing Pathйtique sonata. The
programme also includes a Chopin nocturne and polonaise, as well as Schumann's
extraordinary Carnaval; the astonishing, visionary suite of miniatures with
which the arch-romantic composer practically redefined the nature of piano
music.
But Lill's not just a romance man; he is respected in
Russia for his performances of Prokofiev's keyboard music. Prokofiev's
tumultuous wartime Seventh Sonata should round the evening off with a flash of
cold steel.
Schedule for "Major League. The World`s Best Pianists" Series. John Lill, piano (UK) 2022
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