2013 Singapore "NOBU-lity" concert review

This review appeared in the Straits Times on June 27, and it is posted on his  Pianomania blog by the author, (Medical) Doctor Chang Tou Liang.

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NOBU-LITY / NOBUYUKI TSUJII Piano Recital / Review Thursday, 27 June 2013

Believe your ears

Published on Jun 27, 2013

By Chang Tou Liang

Review Concert

NOBU-LITY

Nobuyuki Tsujii

Esplanade Concert Hall/Tuesday

When the young blind Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii was awarded joint First Prize at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, public opinion was polarised. Legions of new fans were touched by his courage and musicality, but there were nay-sayers who felt he was a student-level player who got lucky with the sympathy vote.

Only a live recital would be a true arbiter of his abilities. In that respect, Tsujii did not disappoint. But there were factors that mitigated his success. He needed help to get to the piano stool. There was fidgeting before he began, and then that constant bobbing and nodding of his head as he performed, uncoordinated with the rhythm of the music.

By choosing a piano voicing that favoured a dry timbre and brightness over mellowness, there was little room for error, especially when he used the sustaining pedal minimally. This was unusual for Debussy's music, which thrives on generous but judicious pedalling and subtlety. Thus the Two Arabesques sounded cut and dried, but the crispness had a better effect for the Suite Bergamasque dances.

Only in the familiar Clair De Lune did he apply a sheen of resonance that just about worked. As the pieces got more complicated, as in the three pieces of Estampes (Imprints), the playing got better. There was nary a smudged texture in the Orient-influenced Pagodas, while the Spanish rhythms of Evenings In Granada were superbly judged, with its guitar-like interludes a pleasant diversion.

In the fluid brilliance of Gardens In The Rain and L'Isle Joyeuse (The Joyous Isle), he brought out a startling clarity at odds with the Impressionist intent usually practised. The build-up to the latter's climax was one of the evening's highlights.

He made each Chopin piece sound freshly turned, beginning with the scintillating Grand Waltz In B Flat Major (Op. 18). The Second Scherzo In B Flat Minor (Op. 31), with accident-prone leaps on both hands that terrify even the sighted, was accomplished with a conjuror's sleight of hand. The large screen with projections of his hands does not lie.

He closed the recital proper with two Polonaises in A flat major, the elusive Polonaise-Fantasy (Op. 61) coming through with much nobility, and seldom has the Heroic Polonaise (Op. 53) been launched with such fearsome disregard for safety. The repeated left-hand octave passage in the latter was stunning in its steadiness.

The sold-out house was rewarded with five encores, including a short greeting of thanks in English and a heartfelt performance of his own elegy in memory to the victims of the 2011 Fukushima earthquake-tsunami tragedy. As a goodwill ambassador for music or any other cause, Tsujii has few equals.

(END)

I posted a comment to the review:

Dr. Chang Tou Liang,

I had looked forward to this review, having read generous words on this blog about Nobuyuki Tsujii.  The text of this piece was sent to me by a friend hours before it was posted here. 

I was frankly alarmed by the negative tone that the review begins with, but glad that it ends on a positive note.

I can accept that you do not care for some of Nobu's Debussy playing.  But why must you dredge up the sour grapes on Nobu's Cliburn victory 4 years ago?  And what's with the "mitigating factors" of Nobu's need to be helped to the piano and his unusual mannerisms on stage due to his blindness? 

Nobu is what he is.  Part of his charm is that he is totally genuine. 

As an ardent fan of Nobu, I have read just about every review on his performances, and I have a theory.

There are those who embrace him with their hearts, and then there are those who judge him with their heads.  The former are moved by the sight of Nobu being led to the piano; the latter disapprove, possibly because it offends their sense of the esthetics of pianist performances. 

Call it sympathy, or empathy, but Nobu and his music seize the hearts of some of us like no other pianists, no matter how brilliant or glamorous they may be.

But let me end this note by thanking you for your enthusiasm for piano music, and your appreciation for Nobu - in your own way.