Notable web postings -- February 2019
Continued from Notable web postings - January 2019
Older notable web postings are collected at Notable web postings archival
♪ Concerts
Nobuyuki Tsujii in Europe,winter 2019
Feb 8 - 17 Nobuyuki Tsujii in Germany
Feb 22 - March 7 Nobuyuki Tsujii "Debussy-Ravel-Chopin" 2018-19 Japan Recital Tour Part 3
♪ Mission accomplished!👍
Nobu completed his Europe tour in great success 😁
"It was a performance tour in Europe for three weeks, but it was a very fulfilling tour." -- Nobu's Concert reports
In addition to performing, Nobu enjoyed some leisure time: visiting a farmers' market, taking in performances by pianist Kissin and the Berlin Phil, and also took lesson(s) from a London teacher!
News, photos and comments collected at
Recital at Queen E Hall, London January 30 2019
Nobuyuki Tsujii in Germany February 2019 (Munich, Regensburg, Berlin, Stuttgart, Fürth)
♪ Debussy-Ravel-Chopin Recital Japan Tour resumes Feb 22
After completing his 2019 winter Europe tour with great success, Nobu resumes his Debussy-Ravel-Chopin Recital Japan Tour on Feb 22 through March 7.
All 6 remaining performances have sold out months in advance.
News, comments and photos of the last part of the Japan tour can be found => The 2018-19 Debussy-Ravel-Chopin Recital Japan Tour -- PART 3
I was in London the first week of February for Nobu's recital at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
It turns out Nobu, his team and I were in London during the coldest week there this winter.
Currently, there is a heat wave in the city, with temperature above 20°C (70°C)! People are walking around shirtless.
I can't complain though. Nobu's recital was a big success; I got to see Windsor Castle in snow and avoided the tourist crowds; operas, ballet at the ROH; good food.
I only hope London would not have changed drastically the next time I am there (think Brexit.)
♪ Feb 24/25 Tchaikovsky Festival comes to Japan in December
Remember Nobu's Tchai 1 peroformance with Mo. Valery Gergiev & the Mariinsky Theatre orchestra in Munich on Feb 8?
That was part of a Tchaikovsky Festival. And now news came that the festival will come to Japan Nov 30-Dev 7, and Nobu is one of 4 soloists that have been decided for the festival.
He is "entrusted with the heavy duty of Piano Concerto No. 1". The other soloists are Alexander Buszlov, Ryu Goto & Sergei Babayan.
The festival is organized by Asahi Shimbun / Japan Arts, and sponsored by the Russian Federation Embassy / Russian Federation Exchange Agency
♪ Feb 24/25 Family photo
Instagram from Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuSB4SHlL5z/
2月21日は私の誕生日🎉
帰国した伸行のリクエストで昔から
家族で行きつけのお寿司屋さんで乾杯🥂
六本木の奈可久さんは鮪の漬けや煮ハマグリ、イカの印籠詰めなど最高
"February 21 is my birthday. At the long-time request of Nobuyuki after he returned home [from his Europe tour], the family shared a toast with sushi at Roppongi's Nagisaki: pickled beef, clams, calamari etc. The best."
This photo shows a boyish Nobu,seated with Mrs. Tsujii at a table with a large bottle of champagne on top, and with father Mr. Takashi Tsujii standing behind them. Everybody is smartly dressed. Nobu's hair looks natural (no gel) and he is smiling quietly.
UPDATE: I posted a comment and wished Mrs. Tsujii happy birthday. She graciously replied and said it's "the last [birthday] of her fifties."
UPDATE: A kind twitter wrote this in response:
"The name of the restaurant is 奈可久 (Nakahisa) in the Roppongi area in Tokyo. When Nobu appeared on a TV program before, he invited the host of the show to the restaurant, and enjoyed the sushi together. Nobu said that it had been his favorite restaurant since his childhood."
This is amazing. But I actually have footage of that TV show, an episode of "Soloman Ryu" aired in Japan in I believe 2011.
In one scene, a sushi dish was brought out and Nobu was asked to name what it is, and he correctly identified "river eel."
♪ Feb 22 Nobuyuki Tsujii & Liverpool Phil vs. Kendrick Lamar :-) :-)
A big thanks to twitter sunsoon, who pointed me to this amusing article.
https://www.phileweb.com/news/audio/201902/22/20632.html
It seems a track (The first movement of the Grieg concerto) from Nobu's 2018 "Rachmaninov" album recorded with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic has had the honor of being chosen as an "audition entry" in the "professional category" of Japan's 7th "European Sound Car Audio Equipment Contest", where it is pitted against a track from a Kendrick Lamar CD.
A contestant equipment has to play both tracks well in order to win.
Details: Nobuyuki Tsujii & Liverpool Phil vs. Kendrick Lamar
♪ February 15 "Star pianist: I have multiple sclerosis"
Alice Sara Ott is a German-Japanese pianist under the Deutsche Grammophon label, who reportedly will soon announce that "she has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis," according to classical music blog "slipped disc"
This photo was posted in 2016 by MünchenMusik, when Nobu toured Germany with the Dresden Phil:
"Nobu Tsujii after performing Rach 3, [backstage] with Mona Asuka and Alice Sara Ott.
I admire her courage and wish her all the best.
♪ Feb 13 "Die Tricolore an der blauen Donau[The tricolors on the blue Danube]"A review for Nobu's first recital in Germany this year, yesterday in Regensburg , appears in on February 13 edition ofthe the newspaper onetz.
The reviewer, Peter K. Donhauser, praises Nobu's playing, albeit with emphasis on his blindness.
Excerpts:
"The sound and touch of pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii is phenomenal. He can join the pantheon of famous blind musicians."
"Nobuyuki Tsujii lets the music happen, he does not puff it up, plays the three similar pieces [Satie's "Trois Gymnopédies" ] with a meditatively cultivated nobility.
'He can meditatively catapult to stupendous virtuoso, captivating his outstanding sense of sound, with which he arranges the pieces with quasi flutes, horns, cellos and basses, showcasing his remarkable clarity and technical accuracy."
"To admire the technical (challenge) security of Tsujii, it should be noted that Mother Nature has given him no eyesight, but a superior sense of sound and touch, with which he reveals to us highly differentiated tonal dimensions of the music. As encore, Clair de Lune (moonlight) by Debussy and the "Revolutionary Etude" op. 10/12 by Chopin."
For a translation of the full text, please see onetz (German newspaper) reviews Nobuyuki Tsujii Feb 12 Regensburg recital
♪ Feb 14 20:00 recital Kammermusiksaal Philharmonie ( 1,180 seats), Berlin, Germany
Nobuyuki Tsujii plays Satie, Ravel, Debussy, Chopin on Feb 14 Valentine's Day 💞 at the Berlin Philharmonic Chamber.
Tickets are no longer available online, but can be obtained Tel.: 030-8264727 or at the door 19:00 on day of performance
https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/concerts/calendar/details/52211/
♪ A rare all-Chopin concert in November
Twitter shinobu posted about an upcoming concert in Japan
https://www.fenice-sacay.jp/event/tsujiichopinworld/
Nobuyuki Tsujii The world of Chopin
Sunday, November 16, 2019 (Sun) 14: 00 opening (opening at 13: 00)
An All-Chopin concert is extremely rare even in the performance activities of Tsujii, and it will be a concert of a once-in-a-lifetime to be performed in commemoration of the opening of Fenice Sakay [a brand new concert hall in Osaka]. Ballade no. 1, Heroic Polonaise, Piano Concerto no. 1 [Strings accompaniment version], etc.
Ticket sales starts on March 20.
♪ Feb 11 A Rave Review from Munich!
History repeats itself! Just as in London, a negative amateur review is followed by a glowing review published in a widely read newspaper.
The following short review appears in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung [Southern Germany News] "The Süddeutsche Zeitung, published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany" - Wikipedia
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/tschaikowsky-zyklus-gasteig-gergiev-1.4319150
[Translated from German]
February 10, 2019, 18:51
Short review
Enchanting
Tchaikovsky Cycle: Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra (1)
By Barbara Doll
After the first movement from Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, a listener hurls an astonishingly serious "bravo" towards the podium. That may well be justified and put a grin on the faces of make some musicians - but it would have been even better if it happens after the first movement of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto. The Japanese pianist Nobu Tsujii, blind from birth, plays it so poetically and sensitively, so out of the sound that the shop-worn concert piece becomes an experience.
It is the opening concert of Valery Gergiev's Tchaikovsky cycle. After Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff, it is the fifth great Russian to whom he dedicates a cycle in the Philharmonic with his orchestras, the Mariinsky Orchestra of St. Petersburg and the Munich Philharmonic - on a single long weekend. The Mariinsky Orchestra kicks off on Friday with the rarely played first symphony "Winterträume"[winter time], whose title sounds as superficial as marzipan and cinnamon tea. The breadth of the first two movements makes the strings tight and intense - as a deep, dreamy introspection.
Thus, they prove to be ideal companions for Nobu Tsujii, who has internalized the music through listening and whose play is also a schooling in hearing, for audience and orchestra: The glittering cascades of the piano concerto, which the other pianists gloss over, he plays with exquisite and crystalline details. His tender, lyrical attack brings magical moods. At the same time, he sweeps through the cadenza with upbeat virtuosity. What fascinates about Nobu Tsujii's play is not only the excellent technique, but also something free, light and childlike. There are ovations and as an encore "Clair de lune."
In the fourth symphony Gergiev shows the great range of Tchaikovsky's emotional world: Powerful metal expresses the inexorable fate; the soul finds refuge in the intimate playing of the strings.
This is a good omen for Nobu's recitals to come. ^_^
♪ Yoshiko Ikuma blog post on the Miyazaki Music Festival.
Music writer Yoshiko Ikuma, who writes about Nobu often, posted a piece about the Miyazaki Music Festival.
http://yoshikoikuma.sblo.jp/article/185520397.html
"Veteran performers, Pinchas Zukerman ... are scheduled to appear, and furthermore young fresh members such as Nobuyuki Tsujii and Fumiaki Miura continue their names."
"At the beginning of this year I talked with Nobuyuki Tsujii and Akira Miura about this music festival program, and heard various stories. The second picture was taken after that talk. The talk felt good, it was an hour of talk and laughter. I would like to write an article that incorporates that fun."
A photo of Nobu & Fumi, with arms around each other's shoulders, is shown.
♪ Nobu debuts at the 2019 George Enescu Festival.
More exciting announcements! This is clearly a year of music festivals for Nobu.
Besides the many other festival appearances that I have already posted about, it seems he is making his debut at Romania's George Enescu Festival.
The festival's website is at https://www.festivalenescu.ro/en/
The program for the 2019 festival lists concerts featuring orchestras that include the Berliner Philahmroniker, the London Symphony Orchestra (Gianandrea Noseda; Diana Damrau soprano), the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden (Myung-Whun Chung conducts Yuja Wang) and the Romanian Youth Orchestra (conductor Michael Sanderling & Nobu); and artist that include violinist Midori, pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin, pianist Yuja Wang, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
Nobu will perform with the Romanian Youth Orchestra on Sept 10 and two recitals on Sept 12 & 14.
Details => Nobuyuki Tsujii at the 2019 George Enescu Festival
Tickets come on sale March 6 => https://www.festivalenescu.ro/en/
This Romanian article, dated Feb 7, just showed up.
A passage from the article, translated from Romanian:
"... The 2019 edition of the George Enescu International Festival brings for 23 days over 2,500 of the world's most valuable personalities, a total of 34 awards made through the presence of 25 great artists including Marion Cotillard, Kirill Petrenko, Mitsuko Uchida , René Jacobs, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Rolando Villazón, Julia Fischer and Nobuyuki Tsujii and nine of the world's most important orchestras. "
♪ Feb 6 Cliburn Competition 10th Anniversary Concerts announced.
This has been a day of concert announcements.
Avex Classics International has just announced a series of concerts in Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka and Fukuoka to commemorate Nobu's victory at The Cliburn Competition.
At each concert, he will perform some of the works that impressed the audiences & judges at the 2009 Competition.
More at => Nobuyuki Tsujii Cliburn Competition 10th Anniversary Concerts
♪ Feb 8 2019 Photo with Chef Mofa
mofa_japan_chef, official residence chef for diplomatic dining in Tokyo, posted a set of photos perhaps from last November's Japan tour of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra => https://twitter.com/mofa_japan_c…/status/1093789189361913856
Here is one of Chef Mofa with Mo. Vladimir Ashkenazy & Nobu.
UPDATE
Twitter ren kindly explained:
"According to the tweet, Chef Kunio Tose is an official residence cook for Japanese ambassador in Iceland. His cuisine has been enjoyed by Nobu, Mo. Ashkenazy, and Pres. Jóhannesson of Iceland and his wife."
♪ Feb 6 "Do you see the dandelion?"
Posted in English on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtiS1gTFgxA/
"Do you see the dandelion? 'Yes, it's beautiful.' The pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii said, 'I can see many different things through the eyes of the heart, and I feel a lot of things inside. I wonder if those things have a strong influence on my music.' I was very impressed by his little hands caressing the dandelion flower. So gentle and His performance can touch your soul like that, can't it?"
The accompanying photos are extracted from a vintage TV documentary, showing a very young Nobu, on his knees, groping a weedy patch to touch a single dandelion. His white cane resting on the ground.
♪ Feb 6 HarrisonParrott artist page updated
The ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️review of Nobu's January 30 London Southbank debut is now listed under the REVIEWS tab on his HarrisonParrott artist page 🙏 Bravo!! Good work 👍 Also mentioned: "In London, Nobu debuts in the International Piano Series at Southbank Centre. Other engagements this season include appearances at Rostropovich Festival and a number of recitals in Germany" -- the Rostropovich Festival is news to be investigated 🤓
♪ A big success: January 30 Nobuyuki Tsujii at the Queen Elizabeth Hall 1.30.2019
UK Independent (widely-read newspaper) review: "An extraordinary performance by any standards"
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(5 out of 5 stars)
News, comments and photos are collected at Nobuyuki Tsujii at the Queen Elizabeth Hall 1.30.2019
♪ Feb 6 HarrisonParrott page updated
The ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️review of Nobu's January 30 London Southbank debut is now listed under the REVIEWS tab on his HarrisonParrott artist page 🙏 Bravo!! Good work 👍 Also mentioned: "In London, Nobu debuts in the International Piano Series at Southbank Centre. Other engagements this season include appearances at Rostropovich Festival and a number of recitals in Germany" -- the Rostropovich Festival is news to be investigated 🤓
♪ Nobu's Rostropovich Festival debut -- April 1, Moscow
I found the information: Nobu will play Beethoven's piano concerto no. 2 with the Yokohama Sinfonietta 横浜シンフォニエッタ & Japanese conductor Kazuki Yamada 山田 和樹.
More at => Nobuyuki Tsujii at the 2019 Rostropovich Festival
♪ Miyasaki Music Festival Performances
Nobu will perform at another festival, the 24th Miyasaki Music Festival 第24回宮崎国際音楽祭 2019年 in Japan, in May.
From the Festival performances list
5/5 14:00
シューマン：ピアノ五重奏曲
ショパン：ピアノ協奏曲 第2番
5/6 14:00
ブラームス：ヴァイオリン・ソナタ 第1番
フランク：ヴァイオリン・ソナタ
May 5 14:00 (Chamber group with Fumiaki Miura) Schumann's Piano Quintet, Chopin's piano concerto no 2
May 6 15:00 (Duo recital with Fumiaki Miura) Brahm's Rain song, Franck's sonata
"Miyazaki is the capital city of Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Located on the coast and crossed by several rivers, Miyazaki City enjoys scenic views of both ocean and nearby, verdant mountains." Wikipedia
The festival coincides with Japan's Golden week. "The Golden Week is a collection of four national holidays within seven days.In combination with well placed weekends, the Golden Week becomes one of Japan's three busiest holiday seasons, besides New Year and the Obon week. Trains, airports and sightseeing spots get very crowded during Golden Week."
♪ Feb 6 "Do you see the dandelion?"
Posted in English on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtiS1gTFgxA/
"Do you see the dandelion? 'Yes, it's beautiful.' The pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii said, 'I can see many different things through the eyes of the heart, and I feel a lot of things inside. I wonder if those things have a strong influence on my music.' I was very impressed by his little hands caressing the dandelion flower. So gentle and His performance can touch your soul like that, can't it?"
The accompanying photos are extracted from a vintage TV documentary, showing a very young Nobu, on his knees, groping a weedy patch to touch a single dandelion. His white cane resting on the ground.
