Notable web postings -- March 2019

Continued from Notable web postings -- February 2019

Older notable web postings are collected at Notable web postings archival

♪ Congratulations to Nobu-kun on the successful conclusion of his  Debussy-Ravel-Chopin Recital Japan Tour

March is here! Plum flowers are already showing up in my neck of the woods in California, and sakura season will soon be coming to Japan.

This month (March 2019) appears to be a quiet month for Nobu, perhaps it is time for him to learn those 3 new concertos that he is slated to perform this year: 

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 (April & May), Shostakovich's Piano & Trumpet concerto No. 1 (July), and Liszt's piano concerto No. 1 (October & November).

♪ March 29 Schubert and Scriabin on Nobu's next recital program

More breaking news! ^_^

The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées of Paris posted their upcoming concert schedule, and look who's on it and what's on the program -

In English, in says

"Tuesday 14 January 20:00

Piano recital by Nobuyuki Tsujii. Program: Schubert Impromptus op.90, Scriabin sonata no. 5 op. 53, Chopin 4 ballades"

Nobu has performed recitals at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées twice (October 23 2017 & December 17 2018), and they were big successes, especially the last one which took place just before last Christmas. In online comments, many concert goers expressed their wishes for Nobu to be brought back for more.

I wrote the recital's producers to relay to the the audience's sentiment, and received a warm reply from Monsieur Michel Mollard: "Of course we will bring Nobuyuki back."

Looks like he made good on his word!

This is the first known 2020 performance of Nobu.  And now we also know what to expect to be on Nobu's next new recital program!

The Schubert and the Scriabin are new to Nobu's repertoire, although I have seen video clips of a very young Nobu playing no. 4 of the Schubert's impromptus.

This is pure speculation, but if the past is any guide, this is likely to be the program for Nobu's  next recital tour in his native Japan, starting December 2019.

More at Nobuyuki Tsujii at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, 2020

♪ March 26 HUGE NEWS -- Nobu returns to Carnegie Hall for a recital, May 10

News came this morning from the Cliburn Foundation that Nobu will return to Carnegie Hall

According to Carnegie Hall's posting, pianist Murray Perahia,has had to withdraw "from this recital due to medical reasons. Nobuyuki Tsujii will perform in his place."

♪ March 26 HUGE NEWS -- Nobu returns to Carnegie Hall for a recital, May 10

According to Carnegie Hall's posting, pianist Murray Perahia,has had to withdraw "from this recital due to medical reasons. Nobuyuki Tsujii will perform in his place."

I have great respect for Murray Perahia and wish him the best.

But of course this is big news to us.

The recital is Friday, May 10, 2019 8 PM at the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage.

The recital program is the same as Nobu's recitals in Paris (December 17 2018), London (Jan 30 2019), and in Berlin February 2019

Program

SATIE Trois Gymnopédies

DEBUSSY Images, Book I

RAVEL Sonatine

CHOPIN Scherzo No. 1

CHOPIN Scherzo No. 2

CHOPIN Scherzo No. 3

CHOPIN Scherzo No. 4

The recital received wide acclaim, including a 5-stars review from Michael Church of the U.K. Independent.

Ticket have been on sale for some time for Mr. Perahia's recital, but many seats are currently available, at https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2019/05/10/murray-perahia-piano-0800pm

This recital comes between Nobu's May 5/6 performances at Miyazaki Festival (Japan) and his May 23-27 Tour with Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg & conductor Marko Letonja;

Taking a look at his concert schedule, Nobu will be traveling to perform in these cities/countries in addition to the busy schedule in his native Japan: April: Moscow (Russia), Hong Kong, Taiwan; May: New York (USA), France, Germany; June: St. Petersburg (Russia).

More at Nobuyuki Tsujii recital at Carnegie Hall, May 10

Below is a homemade promotional video, Nobuyuki Tsujii returns to Carnegie Hall May 10 2019, posted on YouTube in hope of getting some notice from Nobu's fan there.

♪ March 27 "Nobuyuki Tsujii, an arrow of white feather arrow to the world's concert hall"

In Japan, the announcement of Nobu's May 10 Carnegie Hall recital made news

https://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000165866 (Japan music network)

辻井伸行、世界的コンサートホールから白羽の矢

Nobuyuki Tsujii, an arrow of white feather arrow to the world's concert hall

2019.3.27 19:37

ニューヨークのカーネギーホールで5月に開催が予定されていた世界的ピアニスト、マレイ・ペライアのリサイタルが急遽キャンセルとなり、辻井伸行がその代役に抜擢された。

辻井がカーネギーホール主催公演にてソロで演奏するのは、2011年のデビューリサイタル以来。これまでにニューヨークのオーケストラと共に度々同ホールの舞台に立ち、高い評価を受けてきたことが、今回の名誉あるホール主催のソロ公演への抜擢の理由と考えらえる。カーネギーホールリサイタルの詳細は下記参照。

The recital of the world famous pianist Murray Peraia, scheduled to be held in May at Carnegie Hall in New York, was suddenly cancelled, and Nobuyuki Tsujii was selected to perform in his place.

Tsujii made his debut solo performance at the Carnegie Hall. The fact is that he has appeared on stage frequently with a New York orchestra [the Orpheus] and received high marks can be considered as the reason for his selection for this prestigious solo concert. See below for details on the Carnegie Hall Recital.

2019年5月10日 現地時間20時開演

（プログラム）

サティ：3つのジムノペディ

ドビュッシー：映像 第一集

ラヴェル：ソナチネ

ショパン：スケルツォ(全曲)

May 10, 2019 Local Time Starts at 20:00

(program)

Satie: Three Gymnopédies

Debussy: First Image Book

Ravel: Sonatine

Chopin: Scherzos (all four)

And the same people put up a professional promotional video on YouTube for the Carnegie Hall May 10 recital, apparently aimed at Nobu's Japanese fan base, also titled 速報 - 辻井伸行、世界的コンサートホールから白羽の矢"Breaking news: Nobuyuki Tsujii , an arrow of white feather arrow to the world's concert hall."

♪ March 27 A cheap dig on Nobu

I half expected this. In fact, soon after reading the announcement of Nobu stepping in for Murray Perahia on May 10, I checked the "Slipped Disc" blog, a tabloid style website on (mostly) classical music by U.K. music writer Norman Lebrecht, which regularly features postings on deaths and illnesses of performing artists.

Sure enough, this morning a piece showed up: Murray Perahia suffers ‘sudden medical setback’.

At the end of the piece, a jab on Nobu

Carnegie Hall has replaced him with, er, Nobuyuki Tsujii.

Money back?

Of course I immediately saw red and sent off a comment, as follows:

First, I have great respect for Mr. Perahia and I wish him well.

>Carnegie Hall has replaced him with, er, Nobuyuki Tsujii.

>Money back?

I expected some snide reaction to this announcement from some, but it is still disappointing to see it here.

As a long-time American admirer of Nobuyuki Tsujii, I am compelled to object to this putdown, uncalled-for and uncivil. I have followed Tsujii's career for years, and he has slowly but surely built up his reputation outside his native Japan, where he is an indisputable classical music superstar.

At the Carnegie on May 10, on short notice,Tsujii will perform the same recital as he did in Paris (December), London (QEB Hall, Jan 30; I was there) and Germany (February), receiving acclaims. Michael Church of the U.K. Independent gave him a 5-star review https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/reviews/nobuyuki-tsujii-pianist-southbank-review-chopin-satie-tour-tickets-a8756316.html

Mr. Tsujii has a heavy schedule in upcoming months, and will be making this performance amid a schedule that already called for traveling to Moscow, Hong Kong, Taiwan, France, Germany and St. Petersburg.

Nobu always has an uphill battle with some critics and some music writers. I have gotten used to it. We know better, and so should Mr. Lebrecht.

More at A cheap dig on Nobuyuki Tsujii on the 'Slipped Disc' blog

♪ March 27 "A Hanami Dinner at Home"

Instagram from Mrs. Tsujii

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvgoRV9FyrC/

今日は家でお花見🌸飲み会

シャンパンで始まりデザートもイチゴ入りシャンパン🍾

バイオリニスト三浦文彰さんのママと

Today we have a hanami [flower viewing] dinner at home

Starting with champagne and a big bowl of strawberries.

Mother of the violinist Fumiaki Miura.

An accompanying photo shows Mrs. Tsujii with Mrs. Miura seated next to each other at an outdoor table topped with drink, plates and platters of food.

The two ladies are clicking tall glasses of champagne.

Presumably Nobu and buddy Fumi were also at the table.

♪ March 26  花見 (Hanami,  flower viewing) season has started in Japan.

🌸Here I am bouncing off the wall with excitement about the Carnegie Hall recital, but what about Nobu himself? No big deal, it seems.

Instagram by Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii (mother of Nobuyuki Tsujii):

桜咲き始めましたね"The cherries are blooming."

An accompanying photo shows Nobu reach up to touch white sakura on an overhanging bough as mother looks on. Careful with those pianist fingers, Nobu! 🙂

♪ March 26 Nobu article in Japan text book

A twitter wrote:

娘が持ち帰ってきた新学期からの新しい教科書に辻井伸行さんが載っている！

Nobuyuki Tsujii is in the textbook that my daughter brought home for the new school term !

The accompanying image shows a book opened to a page: "Lesson 4: Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart," with a photo of Nobu from the 2009 Cliburn Competition.

♪ March 25 Hurray! Overseas Concert page of he Nobuyuki Tsujii Official Website got an update!

For some time now, I have been whining about  the English side of the Nobuyuki Tsujii Official Website not getting any update.

But just now I noticed that the overseas concert page has finally been updated!

The page now shows the upcoming concerts next month.

A big thanks to Nobu's management team and webmaster.

I do hope they keep up the good work and keep the page up-to-date: The Tour with Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg & conductor Marko Letonja coming up in May, the Stars of the White Nights in St. Petersburg, the performance at the George Enescu Festival in Romania in September, and the concerts with Kent Nagano & Hamburg Phil in Hamburg in October.

♪  The Avex Classics International Facebook page

♪  Nobu's Russian fans: Can you help?

Nobu and the Yokohama Sinfonietta are slated for a performance on April 1 at the Rostropovich Festival in Moscow.

They will perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2, a new addition to Nobu's repertoire.

I am personally keen to listen to that performance and so have been investigating whether the concert can be heard online via Russia's radio/TV stations.

I have tried, but the closest I have come is this article posted by Moscow's Kulture TV, which does mention Nobu & the Yokohama Sinfonietta.

It lists a set of past favorite performances to air from March 25 through March 29.

Also to be aired on March 31 at 10:15 pm is a recording of this year's opening ceremony.

But I have seen no mention of any broadcast of the festival concerts of this year.

Judging from web postings, Nobu has many fans in Russia.

Nobu fans in Russia: if you have information on any broadcast (radio, TV)  of his April 1 Moscow concert, please let us hear from you!!

More at A call for help to Nobu's Russian fans

♪ March 24 Ticket battles in Japan?

Today, Sunday March 24, should be a busy day for some Nobu fans

At 10 AM, tickets come on general sale for the Osaka performance of Nobu's Cliburn Competition 10th Anniversary Concerts

and at 11AM, advance tickets come on sale for the October 31 Suntory Hall performance of Nobu's

Japan Tour with Kent Nagano & the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

This page should see a lot of actions =>Nobu's concert page on ticket outlet site pia

Our best wishes to Nobu fans!

Image - Samurai cartoon

UPDATE: The Osaka tickets were reportedly sold out in minutes, but the advance Suntory Hall tickets (very expensive) are available in all categories.

https://twitter.com/musique190316/status/1109623734770360321

辻井伸行さんのチケット、先行抽選ではずれ、10時の一般は、購入画面にいったところで、エラー発生。10時4分には完売😭 日頃の行いをよくして、当選率アップを狙うしかない。。。Nobuyuki Tsujii's ticket, advance lottery tickets came on sale at 10AM.  I went to the purchase sceen only to get an error message.  At 10:04 it was sold out ...♪ March 21 Thank you, Passion-TV, for making those wonderful Travel-Music documentaries of Nobu!I just came upon this business page posted by Tokyo's Passion TV 株式会社パッション

https://www.passion-tv.co.jp/business/music/

and now realize that they are the ones who produce those wonderful travel-music documentaries of Nobu, aired on BS-Fuji TV, that we have enjoyed over the years. We are indebted!

On this page http://www.bsfuji.tv/tsujii/ you can find a list of those excellent shows, with great still photos from each, such as the one below from the 2014 Southeast Asia show .

Here is hoping that we may enjoy many more of these shows in the future!

♪ March 20 Spring has sprung

Instagram from Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvOnoffFa8i/

庭のビオラが見頃です"The violet in the garden is in full bloom."

The lovely photo shows a large cluster of delicate flowers in hues of orange, yellow, purple and white.

The violet, with no thorns, is a good plant for Nobu to run his hands over them.

I can see him doing that in the family's garden. ^_^And news media in Japan report that "Cherry trees came into bloom Wednesday in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Nagasaki, the first officially observed blooming of the [prized] 'Somei Yoshino' variety in Japan this spring, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency."

♪ March 18 BBC Proms JAPAN announced -- but no Nobu!

I think it is safe to say that in Japan, some people know about the BBC Proms only through Nobu's thrilling performance of Rach 2 at the 2013 BBC Proms.

Some time ago I posted about the BBC Proms JAPAN, slated for October 30 through November 4.

The event is sponsored by Daiwa Securities Group, a major sponsor of Nobu's concerts. So I thought there would be a good chance that Nobu will be among the performers.

The announcement has just shown up

https://t.pia.jp/pia/event/event.do?eventBundleCd=b1934201

and the performers include BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra , pianist YuliAnna Avdeeva, violinist Vadim Viktorovich Repin, and Japanese violinist Fumiaki Miura and others, but NO NOBU!

In fact, Nobu will be on a Japan Tour with Kent Nagano, conductor, Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra (sponsored by Fujitec) at the same time!

♪ March 19 A ballerina who admires Nobu

Nobu has an admirer in Japanese ballerina Akane Takada 高田 茜, "a prospective Japanese principal of the Royal Ballet of Great Britain." ^_^

In an interview posted by T JAPAN (New York Times Style Magazine Japan), Takada-san, when asked about the Covent Garden (home of the British Royal Ballet), is quoted as saying

"最近では、ずっと好きで憧れていたピアニストの辻井伸行さんのコンサートを初めて聞きに行きました。夢の一つが叶って幸せでした。

"Recently,I went to listen to the concert of pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii for the first time, whom I have always loved and admired. One of my dreams came true."

Takada-san is perhaps referring to Nobu's January 30 2019 recital at Queen E Hall, London.

I was at that recital, and I also attended a ballet and an opera at the Covent Garden. Nobu has not performed at the Covent Garden, to my knowledge.

♪ March 18 Google Doodle pays tribute to Japanese inventor Seiichi Miyake

Friends, have you noticed the Google doodle this week? It is entitled "Celebrating Seiichi Miyake."

I confess that I had to look it up, but this CNet article explains it well:

"Google Doodle pays tribute to Japanese inventor Seiichi Miyake."

"His invention, the tenji block, changed the way the visually impaired interact with the world." "In 1965, Miyake invented the tactile paving slab (or "tenji block" in Japan) with his own money. Monday's Google Doodle celebrates the introduction of the block 52 years ago."

These bumpy paving blocks are now everywhere, especially helpful on sidewalks and in train stations, etc.

Those bumps help to guide the visually impaired who use a cane to navigate their steps. Kudos to Miyake-san!

♪A New Interview with an interesting paragraph and great photos

A new interview appears in Tokyo's GO Journal.

The original article, in Japanese, is available at https://www.parasapo.tokyo/gojournal/issue03/column01/

A full English translation can be found at Tokyo GO Journal intervews Nobuyuki Tsujii, March 2019

The interview took place back in January, and the interviewer is 中島 さち子 | Sachiko Nakajima, a jazz pianist & mathematician.

Her words are frankly difficult for Google Translate (and me) to decipher, and she focuses on Nobu's blindness.

There is an interesting paragraph at the end of the interview.

Interviewer: Personally, I would like to see you at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games.

Nobu: Such a collaboration would be good. The Paralympic Games and the Olympics are separate, but I want to do something that we can do together. I think it's important for people with disabilities and people without disabilities to work together. My mother used to take me to the museum from a young age to explain the pictures, and also to the fireworks. I think it is important for the sighted to share experience with the blind. I think music is a field where disabilities do not matter. It is my dream to connect sightless and sighted people with music.

We have read something similar before, but this is first time that I noticed Nobu saying that it is important for the sighted to share experience with the blind, and he is more interested in connecting sighted and sightless people through music.  Instead of appearing in an event where the disabled are separate from those who are not, he would prefer "we can do something together."

Bravo, Nobu!

Image: One of the many photos in the article.  Nobu, in close-up profile, looking skyward.

♪ Concerts

Feb 22 - March 7  Nobuyuki Tsujii "Debussy-Ravel-Chopin" 2018-19 Japan Recital Tour Part 3

♪ March 3 - birthday of Maurice Ravel

This tweet from Japan is fitting on this day.

https://twitter.com/Pravda_kuraota/status/1103641423323193344

お気に入りの曲は多いけど、辻井伸行さんの「水の戯れ」を聴いた時にまるで水が無邪気に遊んでいるような感じがした。原題を直訳すると噴水だけれども、辻井さんの演奏は噴水という人工物に囚われずに小川で自由気ままに生きる水を描くような演奏で衝撃的だった。 #ラヴェル生誕祭〜聴いた曲は

I have a lot of favorite songs, but when I listened to Nobuyuki Tsujii's "Jeux d'eau," I ferl as if the water is playing innocently. Although the piece's original title is literally a water fountain, the performance of Mr. Tsujii astoundingly evokes water running freely in the brook without being caught in the artifact of a fountain.

Nobu has a special love for Ravel.  I have heard his live performances of Ravel's piano concerto, jeux d'eau and Sonatine -- always riveting.

Here is a video of Nobu playing Debussy's Clair de Lune and Ravel's "Pavane for a Late Princess" at his 2017 Debut 10 years special concert.

♪ Hats off to Mr. Yukio Yokoyama 横山幸雄

You may remember Mr. Yukio Yokoyama from the 2019 Cliburn Competition documentary.

He is the gentleman who flew in to Texas during the competition to give Nobu some last-minute coaching. At the time, he was a professor at the Tokyo university where Nobu studied.

Mr. Yokoyama has a long and illustrious career. Among his considerable accomplishments, he is known for holding an annual "All Chopin concert," at which he plays all of Chopin's works (240!) including concertos and chorales, NON-STOP (through the night).

According to music writer Yoshiko Ikuma, this year, the marathon concert is entitled "Chopin the Immigrant,"and will be held at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall from May 3 to May 5.

Mr. Yokoyama is quite a colorful character. Writer Ikuma-san wrote:

"Today's picture was taken at the salon at his home. The interior decoration of the room is also colorful, but his clothes are also rich in colors."

My hat is off to Yokoyama-san!

♪ Feb 28 Nostalgia

This photo showed up on Twitter today. Ah yes, this was back in 2015 when UK's Prince William visited Japan. In the photo, Prince William bestowed on Nobu a royal gift. More photos and news articles here => Nobuyuki Tsujii meets Prince William