Notable web postings - August 2017
Continued from Notable web postings - July 2017
Older notable web postings are collected at Notable web postings archival
August 2017 is upon us. Nobu has a quiet schedule this coming month. On his calendar is an August 5 appearance for an environmental awareness campaign in Fukuoka, a performance in Vladivostok, Russia on August 9 (photos left), then 3 much anticipated concerts with his drinking buddy & violinist Fumiaki Miura in late August, at which they will play Franck's violin concerto as a duo.
♪ Congratulations to Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii on the successful conclusion of his 2017 Premium Recitals:
10 sold-out performances in Saitama, Osaka,Shimane, Nagano, Aichi, Akita, Yamagata, Tokyo. News, comments and photos on the recital performances can be found at => Nobuyuki Tsujii 2017 Premium Recitals - news, photos & comments
♪ August 10 Congratulations to Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii on his phenomenally successful debut in Vladivostok, Russia
Lots of comments , photos, videos, etc. are collected at => Nobuyuki Tsujii in Vladivostok, Russia
♪ Fumiaki Miura × Nobuyuki Tsujii duo recital -- news & comments
♪ August 30 Nobuyuki Tsujii fans facebook community now 900+ strong
At the urging of the mighty Facebook, I thank everyone who took the time to "like" the Nobuyuki Tsujii fans facebook page -- this "community" has reached 900 strong and growing.
Of course if the "community" were run by Nobu himself, there would be a thousand times more "like"s.
But Nobu doesn't do social media (I am happy that he is focusing on his music instead) and so I take it upon myself to spread his news on Facebook, strictly as a labor of Love .
I am proud that the 900 "Like"s on the Nobuyuki Tsujii fans facebook page are from honest-to-goodness Nobu fans -- no advertisements; no promotions; no gimmicks.
♪ August 25 Nobu's Ueno Gakuen professor Yukio Yokoyama
I just happened to see this YouTube video, which is Liszt's transcendental Etude No. 4 (Mazeppa) shown with the music score.
It is a piece on the program of Nobu's "Premium Recitals" back in July. I am looking forward to seeing him play it in Paris in October.
The performance on this video so impressed me that I took a look to see who the performer is, and I was astonished that the performer is none other than Yukio Yokoyama, former professor of Nobu at the Ueno Gakuen Music College -- he appears in the Cliburn Competition documentary. His performance of this impossible piece is unbelievable ( which is probably why it was chosen by this uploader, whose videos like this one are invaluable to pianists all over the world.) I wonder if Nobu learned the transcendental etudes from Mr. Yokoyama, who is a Chopin Piano Competition medalist.Another of Nobu's piano teacher, Mr. Kawakami, was at Nobu's recital, and wrote (jokingly) that Nobu had to work so hard playing this piece that his sweats must have flown out to the audience in the first row. Watching this video, I can see why he wrote that.
♪ August 24 New YouTube video with Nobu's music on soundtrack
This YouTube video, titled "支援ありがとう「九州北部豪雨」ピアニスト 辻井伸行 ("Thank you for your support 'Northern Kyushu heavy rain' pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii"), was uploaded without description by an entity called 街づくり災害に負けない (Town Development for overcoming disasters). The video has a soundtrack of music that is reminiscent of many of Nobu's impromptu pieces, and is shown with still photos of scenes from a heavy rain disaster that occurred in Japan's Kyushu in July.
Nobu held a charity performance for the "Water and Green Festival" in the area on August 1 in the aftermath of the disaster, and it is likely that he did perform an impromptu at the request of this organization.
The video opens with a quick clip of Nobu seated in front of a piano that I don't recall seeing before, followed by a slide show of news photos of the disaster.
♪ August 23 The "Nobu & Fumi" Dynamic Duo
Violinist Fumiaki Miura posted this clip of him practicing with Nobu at the Nagano mountain resort where they will perform on August 26 & 27.
Nobu is wearing white tee-shirt and shorts and "Fumi" grey sweats. They both seem to be in sneakers (footwear).
Please click link to see video => https://twitter.com/FumiakiMiura/status/900284419474243584
Also on Instagram at
"Morning practicing with Nobu in Yatsugatake! #nobu #fumi #辻井伸行 #三浦文彰"
♪ August 22 Nobu reported seen at Wedding Party
This twitter wrote that Nobu was seen today at a Kansai (Kyoto area) restaurant performing three "songs" for a wedding party.
https://twitter.com/walshvisa1101/status/899947138955829249
う、う、羨ましい・・・: ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ お写真誰だか分かりますか？ そう！あの辻井伸行様です 今日レストランでいつもいらっしゃる関西のお客様 ７月に知人の方のお嬢様の結婚式に出席… https://goo.gl/fb/dGWtLL
♪ August 27 "Untitled Concert"
The show, where Nobu is one of four "star pianists" associated with holidays by flower arrangement artist Shogo Yuzaki , was shown in Osaka today, and Yura finally watched it and tweeted:
https://twitter.com/icoyuraco/status/901832550552707074 (Yura's tweet)
題名のない音楽会』假屋崎氏の辻井伸行談『彼は夢見る冒険者。世界に通用する日本人として誇りに思う。どんどんメキメキとね、こんな言い方失礼ですけどどんどん面白くなって来る。コンサート会場にいる1人1人に自分自身の思ってる音楽を伝えたいとゆう、愛情溢れた素敵な方です💫』悲愴第2楽章
On "Untitled Concert," Mr. Shogo Yuzaki said of NobuyukiTsujii "He is a dream adventurer. World renowned and Japan's pride. He is getting more and more attention. It is rude to say such a thing, but he will become more and more interesting. At each concert venue he tells each and everyone what he is thinking, with his music. He is a wonderful person full of affection. "Pathetquie 2nd movement [was shown on the show]
♪♪August 20 appearance on 「題名のない音楽会」 "Untitled Concert"
The show has been aired in Japan. As mentioned, performances of video footage were shown as "Four Star Pianists to get to know on Holidays."
You can hear a 30-second clip of the video performance of each of the four featured artists at this page => http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/daimei_2017/contents/Broadcast/cur/
Lang Lang: De Falla's "Ritual Fire Dance"
Yundi Li: Chopin 's scherzo No. 2
Fazil Say: his arrangement of Mozart's "Turkish March"
Nobu: Beethoven's "Pathetique" sonata, 2nd mvt.
I like what this twitter wrote after watching the show:
https://twitter.com/peni_chu/status/899068388382654464
辻井伸行って、1音1音ものすごい丁寧に鍵盤を撫でるように優しく弾くなぁ、必ず鍵盤に指を置いてから押すっていうか。カッコつけて腕を振りかざして上から叩いたり絶対しないんだよな
Nobuyuki Tsujii, sound by sound played very carefully as if stroking the keyboards softly, always putting his fingers on the keyboard and pressing it. Never does he flail his arms or lift them high to look cool.
いや他の動きが激しいピアニストがカッコつけてるとは思わないけどｗ
辻井伸行の優しい音に悲愴、めっちゃ似合ってた
No, I do not think the other pianists with intense movements look cool. Nobuyuki Tsujii's gentle sound was perfect for the "Sadness" sonata.
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/daimei_2017/contents/Broadcast/cur/
A reminder to our friends in Japan about the 「題名のない音楽会」 "Untitled Concert" coming up this Sunday August 20.
Floral arrangement specialist Shogo Yasuzaki presents four star pianists in relation to seasonal holidays, including Fazil Say and Nobuyuki Tsujii.
Judging from the show description, I believe Mr. Say's performance of his arrangement of Mozart's "Turkish March" will represent an autumn holiday and Nobu's 2nd movement of Beethoven's "Pathetique" sonata a winter holiday. The performances are video footage, not live.
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/daimei_2017/contents/Broadcast/cur/
2017.08.20
「4人のスターピアニストを知る休日」
ピアノのコンサートに数多く足を運ばれるという、華道家の假屋崎省吾さんをお迎えし、世界を席巻する4人のスターピアニストを番組の出演映像と共にご紹介します。どうぞお楽しみに！
♪ラン・ラン、ユンディ・リ、ファジル・サイ、辻井伸行、假屋崎省吾
2017.08.20
"Four Star Pianists to get to know on Holidays"
Shogo Yasuzaki, a flower arranger for many piano concerts to the concert, will introduce four star pianists who are sweeping the world along with the video of the program. Please look forward to it!
♪ Lang Lang, Yundi Li, Fazil Say, Nobuyuki Tsujii, Shogo Yasuzaki
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/pr/contents/20170820_05130.html
Program details on the page indicates footage shown will include Fazil Say playing his arrangement of Mozart's "Turkish March" and Nobu playing Beethoven's Pathetique 2nd movement
According to The Nobuyuki Tsujii Official Site, the show will be shown twice
テレビ朝日 8月20日（日）9:00～9:30
ＢＳ朝日 8月27日（日）23:00～23:30
♪August 19 Dr. Kawakami plays Piano Concerto No. 3 by Nicolai Kapustin
I have often mentioned Mr. Masahiro Kawakami, long-time piano teacher of Nobuyuki Tsujii, who is himself a concert pianist and a university professor in Japan.
Mr. Kawakami is a specialist and a champion of the music of Russian Composer Nikolai Kapustin, who posted a recording of the world premiere of his own Piano Concerto No. 3 Op. 48, performed by Mr. Kawakami last year in Japan.
The recording, posted on the composer's own site, can be listened to here => http://www.nikolai-kapustin.info/misc_audio_others.html#PNC:323:3248:32LINK
This is the first time that I listened to the playing of Mr. K. He is an outstanding pianist! And what applause he and the bands got on that day!
This concerto sounds like quite a knuckle buster for any pianist, but Mr. K's playing is crisp, clear and joyous. His influence on Nobu is unmistakable.
I hope -- and I think there is a good chance -- that Mr. K gets to record an album of his performances of Kapustin's music, whose popularity seems to be on the rise especially in Japan, perhaps in no small measure due to the efforts of Mr. K.
In his blog post http://www.masahiro-kawakami.com/blog/index.php?e=870 Mr. K wrote that the performance took place 9 months ago, and it involved a big band and an orchestra, a considerable undertaking, and a one-time only performance. But Mr. K enjoyed playing it so much that he wants to play it again, although he thought he made some mistakes in his playing. (He wrote that he thought the rehearsal in the morning was actually better.) He also wrote that because he anticipates more opportunities in performing [Kapustin's music], he is adjusting his activities to allow for more time for practicing on the piano. I hope he will still have time for Nobu. It makes me happy to know that Nobu's devoted teacher is enjoying a flourishing career of his own.
My news search today came up with a letter to the editor of the Arizona Daily Star, a newspaper of the state of Arizona in the U.S.:
Re: the Aug. 13 guest column "It may be hard for others to see, but I'm not defined by my disability."
Aurora Begay shared with us the story of Erin Wilson, who encountered a form of bigotry from her high school orchestra teacher when she was told that "to move up to the next level, (she) needed to have sight to read the notes on the sheet music." It is sobering to think that Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, José Feliciano, Nobuyuki Tsujii, Art Tatum, Diane Schuur and countless other musical legends would have failed an audition at that high school.
Linda, a blind professional pianist in the U.S., echoed the sentiment
I'll never be able to tell you how many times I have had trouble at auditions, for all kinds of things. They not only act like you can't learn the music, but I was auditioning as a singer, and if it was a choir, they acted like you were going to pass out and fall off the riser, that you couldn't walk down the aisle with everyone else in a church choir. And of course, how was I going to follow the conductor? Oh man! It was hard to believe the number of reasons they could come up with to try to keep you out! I'm sorry to hear that this is still going on!
The arts still have a way to go in terms of excepting people with any kind of disability.All of this just points out even more how incredible Nobu is, and how he has managed to get people all over the world to totally accept him! What an inspiration!
Indeed it is remarkable how Nobu has been accepted all over the world by audiences, orchestras, and conductors. But perhaps not by everyone, and perhaps that is the reason why Nobu has not been invited to perform with some prominent orchestras and conductors. I recall from the 2009 Cliburn Competition video documentary where the competition's orchestra conductor, James Colon, was asked about performing with Nobu, and the answer is -- I am paraphrasing from memory -- no problem if you are willing to work with Nobu his way. What does that mean? Normally, a conductor gets together with a soloist to go over the music score on paper and expects the soloist to follow the baton during performance. Nobu obviously cannot do that. There is/was a YouTube video of Nobu meeting with conductor Colon to go over the score of Rach 2 before their Cliburn performance, and the discomfort of Nobu was palpable, and perhaps as a result in the actual performance the orchestra was out of sync with Nobu at the start.
Perhaps not every maestro is willing to accommodate or capable of accommodating Nobu's "disability.
I bow my head to conductors who have worked wonders with Nobu, such as Vladimir Ashkenazy and Valery Gergiev.
♪ August 9 Sputnik News item
https://jp.sputniknews.com/culture/201708053963364/
マリインスキー極東音楽祭で日本の唯一無二のピアニストが演奏【動画・写真】
Only one Japanese Pianist to perform at the Mariinsky Far East music festival
2017年08月05日 August 5 2017 20:05
第2回国際極東音楽祭「マリインスキー」の交響楽の演目で、日本の盲目ピアニスト辻井伸行氏が演奏する。辻井氏は９日、J.S.バッハのピアノ協奏曲第5番でソリストとして演奏する。
Japan's blind pianist Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii will play in a symphonic performance of the "Mariinsky" 2nd International Far Eastern Music Festival. Mr. Tsujii will perform as a soloist for J.S. Bach's Piano Concerto No. 5 [Beethoven's, actually] on the 9th.
辻井氏は出生時から眼球が成長しない「小眼球」と呼ばれる原因不明の障害があったが、その音楽的才能は真に驚異的なものだった。広く知られるようになったのは、2009年米国で開催されたヴァン・クライバーン国際ピアノコンクールで優勝がきっかけ。現在、辻井氏は全世界で公演し、有名なオーケストラや指揮者とともに演奏している。辻井市のCDは記録的な売上を誇り、多くのファンはコンサートのチケットを熱望している。
Mr. Tsujii was born with an eye disorder called "small eyeball" but his musical talent is truly phenomenal. He became widely known after winning at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition held in the US in 2009. Today, Mr. Tsujii performs worldwide, including with famous orchestras and conductors. Mr. Tsujii CDs boast record sales, and many fans are eager for his concert tickets.
音楽祭の芸術監督ワレリー・ゲルギエフ氏は記者会見で「辻井伸行氏は世界文化における唯一無二の現象だ。偉大な才能を持った盲目の音楽家。私は彼を第一回音楽祭のときにも招待を望んでいたが、ついにそれが叶った。彼を今か今かと待ち、辻井氏がウラジオストクに訪れるのが一度だけではないことを期待している」と述べた。
Music festival art director Valery Gergiev said at a press conference: "Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii is a unique phenomenon in world culture. A blind musician with immeasurable talent. I had wanted to invite him to the first music festival, but now it finally came true. I waited for him to come to visit Vladivostok for the first time. "
♪ August 6 "Water and Green" theme music score available
No video of Nobu's performance is Kyushu yesterday has come up, but I found the score of the music that he composed for the festival posted on the site of KBC radio (organizer of the "Water and Green" festival. => http://www.kbc.co.jp/event/watergreen2017/images/about/mizutomidorinomonogatari.pdf
The score is a simple version of the music; I suspect it is not q uite how Nobu plays it himself.
♪ August 5/6 "Water and Green" festival in Kyushu
Nobu performed the theme music he composed for the "Water and Green" festival held yesterday in Kyushu. The performance was presumably aired on radio and TV by the local station. The Internet live-streaming didn't work for me and no video of the performance has come up yet. But here is a photo posted to instagram: "Nobuyuki Tsujii performed a wonderful theme song!..." In the photo, Nobu is wearing the same polo shirt last seen backstage after his Premium Recital finale in Tokyo last week -- I wonder if he was wearing those same fuschia-red pants also ...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXaEYVVFzOj/
素敵なテーマソングを披露してくださった辻井伸行くん！そして隣は・・見覚えある方もいるのでは？デビュー当時僕の担当でCD片手に全国いろんなとこを一緒に回ってた中村くん
"Nobuyuki Tsujii performed a wonderful theme song!...
And a better photo was posted on singer iro-King's blog:
https://twitter.com/Shinya_Kiyokawa/status/893735002310979585 4[This tweet came up just before show time]
これから辻井伸行さんとのセッション。 辻井さんの優しいメロディーに水と緑にまつわる音と映像を繋ぎ合せました。
Session with Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii starting now. Mr. Tsujii 's gentle melody is able to connect the sounds and images related to water and green.
https://twitter.com/mietai8/status/893785232691781634
KBC水と緑の物語 辻井伸行さんのスペシャルライブを聴いてきました。清川進也さんの映像とのコラボ‼︎ 録画していたテレビも見ましたが、生はもっともっと良かったです。 そして生放送後にもう1曲、ショパンのノクターン8を弾いてくださいました。 良かった〜 幸せ♪
KBC Water and Green Story
I have been listening to Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii Special Live. Collaboration with Shinya Kiyokawa's video! I had watched him on television recordings, but live was even better. After playing live, he played another song, Nocturne 8 from Chopin. It was wonderful ~ happy ♪
https://twitter.com/kotamato1003/status/893747487810375680
辻井伸行さんのピアノで、心が洗われる。 なんか...頑張れる。 頑張ろうね、九州！！！
Nobuyuki Tsujii 's piano, my heart is washed.We too can persevere. Let 's do our best, Kyushu! ! !
♪♪ Tweet of the Day
https://twitter.com/michigo405/status/893105030051446784
辻井伸行さんのピアノ、ココロに響きます
The piano of Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii echoes in the heart.
There are many great pianists in this world, but with few can this be said -- in my humble opinion.
♪ Ueno Gakuen, Nobu's alma mater
At the time of his Cliburn Competition victory, Nobu was a student in the prestigious music program at Tokyo's Ueno Gakuen (College): "In April 2007, Tsujii entered Ueno Gakuen University, graduating in March 2011" (wikipedia). Some faculty members of the university were in Texas to help to prepare Nobu's performances at the competition, and the chairman of the university flew from Tokyo to attend the award ceremony. Nobu has returned to perform at the university from time to time.
Sadly, the university has fallen into hard times recently, due to internal administrative disputes.
In this student recruitment advertisement posted by the Asahi Shimbun (News), Nobu is mentioned prominently:
http://www.asahi.com/ad/ondai2017/ueno.html
手を伸ばせば音楽がある
〜音楽を愛するすべての人に、
上野学園の扉は開かれています〜
ピアニストの辻井伸行さんが学んだことでも知られる上野学園大学は、今年で創立113年。...
Open your arms to music
~ For everyone who loves music,
The door to Ueno Gakuen is open ~
Ueno Gakuen University, also known for pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, was founded 113 years ago.
Image source: 上野学園大学 Uneo Gakuen Univeristy
♪ Tenth Anniversary of Nobu's Début Album
https://twitter.com/mysound_news/status/892664718539620352
まもなくデビュー10周年！第13回ヴァン・クライバーン国際ピアノ・コンクールで日本人として初の優勝を果たし、大ヒットした「debut」をはじめ、厳選16作品をピックアップ！今だけ特別プライスで配信中！→http://mysound.jp/sp/9259/?tww
Nobuyuki Tsujii 10th anniversary of his debut [album]!
First Japanese winner at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Along with the big hit "debut", 16 carefully selected albums are now available at special price.
♪ July 31 Why does Mr. Tsujii rock his head and body?
A while back I posted an article Why does Mr. Tsujii rock his head and body? to share my thoughts about Nobu's mannerisms.
Today, the post received an excellent comment from a reader:
I find Nobu's movements quite entrancing as they give a real insight into what he is feeling about the music and how he is relating to it. I enjoy to watch him more than I enjoy to only listen. He expresses with his body what sighted musicians may express with their bodies if they were not constrained by what is 'acceptable' in our society, and for this reason I find Nobu's pure expression quite deeply moving. From a technical point of view, I heard the great Stevie Wonder answering this same question - why do you move your head like you do Mr Wonder? Stevie said that because blind people cannot release energy, as sighted people can, by moving their eyes, that blind people release that same energy by moving their heads and other parts of their bodies. Makes total sense to me, and yes, these mannerisms are called 'blindisms'. Blind people do not get to see what kinds of movements etc., are socially admissable in regular sighted society, so essentially, with blind people we are seeing a natural, innocent state of physicality. As I said earlier - I find this moving to watch. Good on you for creating and maintaining this website!
I had not heard how Stevie Wonder answered that question before, and yes, it does make sense.
And yes, I too find Nobu's unvarnished, unpretentious mannerisms affecting. Great minds think alike ^_^
♪ July 30 August 20 appearance on "Untitled Concert" confirmed
Yura tweeted, most likely after viewing this Sunday's "Untitled Concert" program:
https://twitter.com/icoyuraco/status/891493234827862016
8/20題名のない音楽会🎹ピアノのコンサートに数多く足を運ぶ華道家の假屋崎省吾さんが世界を席巻する『4人のスターピアニストを知る休日』番組の出演映像と共にご紹介します。ブログから『辻井伸行さんはデビューの頃から応援しています❣️』
On 8/20 "Untitled Concert." Shogo Yasuzaki, a world-famous flower arranger for a large number of piano concerts, will present the show titled "Holidays to get to know Four Star Pianists" with videos of their appearances. On his blog Yasuzaki-san wrote that he "has been cheering for Nobuyuki Tsujii since Nobu's debut"
The blog post that Yura referred to is here => http://ameblo.jp/kariyazakishogo/entry-12154531947.html
According to a previous tweet, the four pianists are: Lang Lang & Yundi Li & Fazil Say & Nobuyuki Tsujii ..
And, on August 1 this came up on the show's site:
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/daimei_2017/contents/Broadcast/cur/
2017.08.20
「4人のスターピアニストを知る休日」
ピアノのコンサートに数多く足を運ばれるという、華道家の假屋崎省吾さんをお迎えし、世界を席巻する4人のスターピアニストを番組の出演映像と共にご紹介します。どうぞお楽しみに！
♪ラン・ラン、ユンディ・リ、ファジル・サイ、辻井伸行、假屋崎省吾
2017.08.20
"Four Star Pianists to get to know on Holidays"
Shogo Yasuzaki, a flower arranger for many piano concerts to the concert, will introduce four star pianists who are sweeping the world along with the video of the program. Please look forward to it!
♪Long Long, Yundi Li, Fazil Say, Nobuyuki Tsujii, Shogo Yasuzaki
♪