Pianist John Lill, born in London in 1944, has long been associated with the music of Beethoven and Brahms. He catapulted to international fame, however, when he was the co-winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970. The Concerto No. 2 presented here is a live recording from that competition, dating from 25th June. The audience’s vociferous response at the end speaks for itself. Lill’s expertise in this repertoire stems, in part, from his studies with Wilhelm Kempff. He also studied at the Royal College of Music. Together with the ‘Paganini Variations’ and the Op. 76 Piano Pieces, these represent all the recordings Lill made for Deutsche Grammophon. All receive their first CD and digital release.
JOHANNES BRAHMS
CD 1
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83
CD 2
Variations on a theme by Paganini, Op. 35
Klavierstücke, Op. 76
John Lill, piano
USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Recording Producers: unknown (Piano Concerto No. 2); Norrie Paramor (Paganini Variations, Klavierstücke Op. 76)
Balance Engineer: unknown (Piano Concerto No. 2); Neville Boyling (Paganini Variations, Klavierstücke Op. 76)
Recording Locations: Great Hall, Moscow Conservatory, Moscow, Russia, 25 June 1970 – recorded ‘live’ (Piano Concerto No. 2); Abbey Road Studio No. 1, London, UK, 5–7 August 1969 (Paganini Variations, Klavierstücke Op. 76)
‘strength, fluency, clarity and musicianly sense of proportion … the engineering is very good’ [Opp. 35 & 76] Gramophone, November 1970
‘you are clearly in the presence of a strong and confident artist … This is an exciting record of a great occasion […] and a fine account of the concerto by any standards.’ (Piano Concerto No. 2) Gramophone, July 1971