Yesterday, I went to hear John Lill give a piano recital in Birmingham. It was quite the most stunning performance.

I've been fortunate enough to hear him play over a 30 year period and in my experience, he is the best going.

To still be at the top of one's game after 50-plus years on the concert platform is really remarkable.

The recital included two Beethoven Sonatas: op10/3 and 0p 53 ('waldstein') and in the second half he performed the op79 Rhapsodies of Brahms and his Handel Variations.

It really was amazing!

I heard him with Emma Johnson and Julian Lloyd Webber at the Bridgewater hall.
I was less impressed than you.
He might be stunning as a soloist but as an accompanist/chamber music player I don't rate him at all.
He never made eye contact with the other two when they played together and it took a long time and a hard fight in one of the cello pieces before Julian got the message across about how he wanted to play.

I heard him play both Brahms Concerti in one concert at Liverpool Phil some years ago. I think was a 50th birthday concert (he's 68 this year). Absolutley fantastic though I am not a particular fan of the Brahms Concerti . Havent heard him accompany though

Can't comment as a chambe rmusician, but I've always highly rated him as a soloist - I first heard him about 30 years ago.

He made a fine recording ot the Beethoven Sonatas many years ago.

I enjoyed one of his performances when he came to a college where I was studying and I was able to sit about 6 metres behind his right ear. Excellent view of things, although perhaps not the best place acoustically.

If I remember rightly at was John Lill who years ago had a flat in Clapham or Balham or thereabouts and a friend of a friend lived underneath. There was a lot of admiration for "the concert pianist upstairs" but a fair bit of moaning about the amount of time he practised! However, it obviously paid off!

I heard him play Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto in London a couple of years ago and it was precision perfect. The only thing I didn't like was no encore at the end. He just disappeared.

Most of the younger up-and-coming pianists enjoy sharing one or two little encore pieces at the Festival Hall. Perhaps he thought we didn't merit it...

My youth orchestra did Rach 2 with him in the 70s, he was brilliant but I remember him giving the conductor a hard time in the slow movement when he sounds like he is playing groups of 4 but is really playing triplets, resorting to stamping his foot a couple of times to give the beat!

Chris

I remember our youth orchestra did a concerto with him in the 80s, with Arthur Davison conducting. Quite spectacular!

Possibly I was there!

I remember hearing him at Dartington summer school when I was at college. An informal play-through one afternoon of Brahms 2. The word went round and people gradually gathered in the corridor outside the practice room. John was playing the solo part from memory: another guy was trying to sight-read the orchestral reduction, and John was filling in when the sight reading didn't quite manage it.