John Lill at the National Concert Hall, 20th February 2014.
John Lill is celebrating his 70th birthday year (and his 61st year of piano recitals), and his first chords in tonight’s all Beethoven programme eliminate the inevitable concerns that he might be declining. Opening the programme tonight is one of the most famous and loved of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, the Pathétique, No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13.
The portentous opening of this piece is taken slowly and handled with depth and drama, although the ceaseless, motoric rhythm of the first theme could do with a little more drive. It is easy to put down both these things to the mixture of wisdom and weariness that (presumably) comes with age, but this is probably not actually the case.
Lill’s playing is wise and thoughtful throughout the evening, but he rectifies the possible lack of youthful dynamism in the second half of the concert with an extremely energetic performance of the lesser-known Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54. The highlight of Lill’s performance is the closing sonata, another crowd favourite, Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 – Appassionata. Lill captures the piece’s intense darkness and once again the Presto, proving again that he has done well to retain a fresh, youthful approach with the same capability and technique as ever.
Lill’s sound is superb throughout the evening, rich and full, with a judiciously applied arsenal of percussive and melodic touches. One slight criticism of the concert is that the four sonatas played span only Beethoven’s so-called early and middle periods. It would be a treat to hear one of the last few sonatas in such experienced hands and would also provide an interesting opportunity to plot Beethoven’s development throughout a programme.
Programme
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 8 in c minor Op. 13 – Pathétique
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major Op. 28 – Pastoral
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major Op. 54
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 23 in f minor Op. 57 – Appassionata