limelight-2011
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Chopin • Musto • liszt • beethoven
Sonata Op. 106 ‘Hammerklavier’, Paganini Étude no.3 ‘La Campanella’, Improvisation and Fugue , Études Op. 10, Nos. 1-6
Nobuyuki Tsujii
harmonia mundi/HMU 907505
By Andrew Fraser on Jan 19, 2011 filed under Classical Music | Comment Now
Co-winner of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (with Haochen Zhang from China) blind Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii is a rising new talent of the keyboard.
This disc, recorded during the competition, contains some of the performances that so impressed the judges. Chopin’s Études are ideal competition pieces with their combination of technical and musical demands and Tsujii’s performance is generally equal to both challenges.
No. 1, with its glittering arpeggios and No. 2 with its chromatic scales both demonstrate his remarkable technical facility without displaying much musical subtlety. By No.3, however, both elements combine wonderfully and Nos. 4, 5 and 6 are equally well balanced. Beethoven’s Hammerklavier is a much greater challenge for any pianist.
Although Tsujii is absolutely comfortable with its technical demands, his performance does at times lose focus. In the Adagio, for example, he displays a remarkably delicate touch but his performance lacks momentum at some crucial moments, leaving it sounding episodic. Liszt’s La Campanella, is a different matter altogether, revealing his talent in full. Not a note is out of place, technically difficult passages are rendered with insouciance making the overall effect dazzling.
Finally, the performance of John Musto’s Improvisation and Fugue, won Tsujii the prize for the best performance of a new work. A strong debut from a formidable talent who promises much.