Bravo John Lill

[Guest]

What a brilliant performance by John Lill of Rachmaninonov's 3rd piano concerto tonight. Great to hear a truly solid and totally engaging interpretation of this great concerto. Bravo John.

[Alison]

Agreed, a marvellous antidote to the photogenic wonder kid stuff we're normally fed by concert promoters and record companies.

[Sir Monty Golfear]

Agreed, a marvellous antidote to the photogenic wonder kid stuff we're normally fed by concert promoters and record companies.

Exactly!.... nothing superficial, or flashy here. I was immersed in the music. The first movement cadenza just flowed and built with a "rightness" as did all the tempi. It all felt so right.

Bravo!.

[Alison]

There really is a serious problem with ageism in relation to concerto soloists. We rightly venerate the contribution of ageing maestros while prematurely writing off some of our finest instrumentalists.

[Bryn]

I think it may well be the case that that very fine pianist John Tilbury did not debut as a concerto soloist until his 70s. He then gave a number of concerto performances with Ilan Volkov (somewhat his junior) in Glasgow, Reykjavik and at the Proms. Catch him at Cafe OTO next Monday evening.

[Tony Halstead]

I think it may well be the case that that very fine pianist John Tilbury did not debut as a concerto soloist until his 70s. He then gave a number of concerto performances with Ilan Volkov (somewhat his junior) in Glasgow, Reykjavik and at the Proms. Catch him at Cafe OTO next Monday evening.

Sorry Bryn but this is 'off topic'... John Tilbury may be the world's greatest interpreter of Morton Feldman and, furthermore, a 'marvel' in that he has made a concerto debut in his 70s, but, we are currently discussing John Lill and his wonderful performance of Rachmaninov's 3rd concerto.

[Bryn]

And I was responding to Alison's #4, giving an example which went against the trend she detected.

[Sir Monty Golfear]

[gradus]

Unfortunately I missed tonight's performance but heard JL give a fine performance of the Emperor last Saturday. I do hope that someone somewhere records this great musician's complete Beethoven sonata cycle as it is many years since he recorded his first set.

[edashtav]

John Lill has great virtues and has displayed a reliable pair of hands throughout his career. Tonight, as in earlier performances by him, I was neither bowled over either by the depth of interpretation nor by edgy brilliance, but, from time to time I was astonished by a difficult passage where the notes were played with a complete technical command that could not have been be bettered. John is unassuming and he tries to convey composers' wishes to the audience without imprinting (John's) own views and values. Noble virtues in an age that worships more trivial matters.

I have rarely enjoyed Rachmaninov's 3rd concerto more.

Bravo, indeed!

[EdgeleyRob]

The rest of the concert wasn't too bad either.
Marvelous evening's music.

Pop up studio thingy,blimey.

[edashtav]

The rest of the concert wasn't too bad either.
.

True - the Tragic Overture was idiomatic, yet with some pleasant intrepretative insights, and the RPO sounded relaxed, confident and full of March sunshine as they played Dvorak's "English" symphony.
I frequently feel sorry for the RPO the peri. band that circles around the big beasts living on the hackneyed scraps that fall from the masters' tables. Here, they were taking Coals to music's Newcastle (aka South Bank) and doing it with a smile and a touch of panache.

[Bryn]

There really is a serious problem with ageism in relation to concerto soloists. We rightly venerate the contribution of ageing maestros while prematurely writing off some of our finest instrumentalists.

I have now listened to the Rachmaninov and it was indeed a very fine performance. However, to add to my earlier response to Alison's #4, younger maestros also get a fair degree of promition:

[Thanks to IRF, over at r3ok.com, for that YouTube link.]

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

However, to add to my earlier response to Alison's #4, younger maestros also get a fair degree of promition:

[Thanks to IRF, over at r3ok.com, for that YouTube link.]

Oh, that is priceless, Bryn! Utterly wonderful - many thanks (and to IRF, too).

[Hornspieler]

John Lill has great virtues and has displayed a reliable pair of hands throughout his career. Tonight, as in earlier performances by him, I was neither bowled over either by the depth of interpretation nor by edgy brilliance, but, from time to time I was astonished by a difficult passage where the notes were played with a complete technical command that could not have been be bettered. John is unassuming and he tries to convey composers' wishes to the audience without imprinting (John's) own views and values. Noble virtues in an age that worships more trivial matters.

I have rarely enjoyed Rachmaninov's 3rd concerto more.

Bravo, indeed!

A fine perrformance indeed. Very musical playing - some unfamiliar places which may be accounted for by the fact that, as he said, John Lill was playing Rachmaninov's first version of the 3rd concerto.

I think that I must have played in this concerto at least eight times with Peter Katin and so naturally I found myself looking for his more dynamic approach.

But that does not mean that I did not enjoy John Lill's interpretation.

My one slight complaint was the very muffled horn sound in those very important solos. Rachmaninov gave special prominence to the horn in all of his orchestral works - like a sort of clarion call and I did not get that feeling; although the horn sound was very clear and effective during the Tragic overture.

I always enjoy listening to Dvorak's 8th symphony and this was no exception.
A work which almost needs no interpretation (interference) and the RPO sounded in very good form.
They might be regarded by some as the poor cousins among the four London orchestras, but this was splendidly lively playing.

Hs