Carnegie debut review - BBC Music Magazine

Review: Nobuyuki Tsujii: Live at Carnegie Hall 

ClassicalMusic.com - online site of the BBC Music Magazine

< found on the Internet on Nov 20, 2012>

The original article was found here:

http://www.classical-music.com/review/nobuyuki-tsujii-live-carnegie-hall

The text is copied below for preservation.

Composer(s): Beethoven, Foster & Tsujii, Liszt, Musorgsky, Musto

Works: John Musto: Improvisation and Fugue; Beethoven: Piano Sonata no. 17 in D minor, Op. 31 No. 2; etc

Performer: Nobuyuki Tsujii (piano); dir. Peter Rosen

Label: EuroArts

Catalogue Number: DVD: 2059088; Blu-ray: 2059084

Performance: 3 out of 5 stars

Picture: DVD:  3 out of 5 stars

Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars

Nobuyuki Tsujii: Live at Carnegie Hall

‘I did it!’ says Nobuyuki Tsujii through tears. ‘There are no words to describe it.’ His emotional display is understandable: the 23-year-old Japanese pianist, blind from birth, has just finished his warmly received Carnegie Hall debut. It’s the latest highpoint in a remarkable life in which he has learned repertoire by ear or from custom-made recordings, his single-minded dedication earning him a shared gold medal at the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition. That backstage moment is the only occasion when the private person is revealed. For the rest, director Peter Rosen provides straight documentation of the December 2011 recital, with sometimes disconcertingly close camerawork. From the constant swaying of Tsujii’s head to microscopic scrutiny of his fingers, little is hidden from us.

Perhaps it’s best to listen as Tsujii plays, though drawbacks still remain. An extraordinary gift and phenomenal effort have taken Tsujii’s skills a long way, but there are higher levels of interpretation to reach. His current tone is clean but lacking in depth. He is also short of natural flow, inevitable perhaps in one who must plan his performances mathematically. Some of Tsujii’s most impressive flights come in the bluesy chords and flying counterpoint of John Musto’s Improvisation and Fugue; elsewhere, in Musorgsky, Liszt and Beethoven, stiff phrasing dominates. The encores offer encouraging glimpses of a gentler more flexible artist, with nuanced Chopin, prettified Stephen Foster, and Tsujii’s own simple piece mourning victims of last year’s Japanese earthquake.

Geoff Brown

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I posted this comment:

As an avid fan of Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii, I appreciate that you gave attention to this DVD. I was at this performance live, and I can only imagine the tension and confusions that Nobu must have experienced on that day.

I think your comments are fair, and I know Nobu himself knows that he has room to improve. He is, after all, only 24. However, I am not sure if it is the case that Nobu has to "plan his performances mathematically". I have seen him in 8 concerts and countless videos, and to my eyes and ears, there is NO hesitation in his finger movements - Nobu can see the keyboard, in his own way.

In any case, I think no one can deny the remarkable achievement of this young man. I like his music, including his own compositions, precisely because of its honesty and youthfulness. He will have a place in history.

By the way, Nobu is returning to the Carnegie Hall to perform Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in 2014 -- I will be there,