Notable web postings January 2020
Continued from Notable web posting December 2019
Older notable web postings are collected at Notable web postings archival
Paris recital another success; Nobu was a big hit in Oslo!
♪ Concerts this month
Jan 8 - Mar 2 Japan recital tour
Jan 14 Nobuyuki Tsujii at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, 2020
January 16 & 17 Nobuyuki Tsujii, Vasily Petrenko in Oslo 2020
♪ Jan 31 Nobu's healing power
On this bleak day of Brexit and travel bans issued by the U.S., this comment posted to the YouTube video "辻井伸行 Nobuyuki Tsujii in Iceland 2018 -- giving thanks" brought a sliver of joy:
"なんて素敵な音色でしょう。昨年３月に他界した母が、その１か月前にこちらの動画をブックマークしていたようです。それを本日見つけ視聴させていただきました。また前に進むことができそうです。ありがとうございます"
[What a wonderful tone! It seems that my mother who died last March bookmarked this video a month ago. I found it today and watched it. It seems I can now move on again. Thank you very much.]
♪ Jan 31 New on YouTube 辻井伸行さん【世界での活躍＃4】in オーストラリア Nobuyuki Tsujii's activity in the world ＃4 in Australia with Ashkenazy
This clip is especially poignant in the light of the recent and sudden announcement of Mo. Vladiir Ashkenazy's retirement from all public performances.
It is extracted from a TV documentary aired in Japan in 2016, with footage of Nobu's debut performance in the Sydney Opera House with Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony orchestra.
I was at the performance and posted an eyewitness account. I also posted comments on the documentary after it was aired in 2017. See 2017 Asahi-TV New Year Special comments
The performance of the Beethoven's piano concerto no. 3 can be seen on other videos, but the first part of the clip shows behind-the-scene footage, beginning with Ashkenazy going to Nobu's dressing room in the Opera House to greet him and his staff.
Do check out the comments, which include some translation of what is said in Japanese.
This video reminds me of what a big loss the retirement of Ashkenazy is to Nobu, and for us :-(
And, incidentally, the Sydney Opera House has just closed for 2 years for acoustic renovation.
♪ Jan 30 "What's New" posted on the Nobuyuki Tsujii official website
Please excuse the smirk on my face, but the Official Website of Nobuyuki Tsujii (English side) has just announced the two recitals recently reported here:
The Rheingau Musik Festival, Germany August 12 AND December 8 Carnegie Hall, USA
Here's hoping for more good news on what's shaping up to be a great 2020-21 season ...
♪ Jan 21 Nobu CDs playlists now available on YouTube
Nobu's CDs by Avex Classics, beautifully packaged and expertly produced, are sold in Japan only.
Whenever I attend his concerts in Europe and U.S., such as his Jan 14 Paris recital at the Theatre de Champs Elysee, it pains me to see albums of other artists being sold in the lobby, and only a couple of very old and modestly packaged Nobu albums previously licensed to be distributed by a Dutch label.
It seems that distribution of the Avex-CDs outside Japan is infeasible because of the price differences.
But it has just come to my attention that Avex has made the sound tracks of many Nobuyuki Tsujii CDs (sold from Japan only) available for listening as playlists on YouTube, FREE.
Check it out by clicking on "Listen Now You Tube" on the English side of the Nobuyuki Tsujii official web site -> https://avex.jp/tsujii/tsujii-en/
Alternatively, the YouTube channel, "Nobuyuki Tsujii Topic", is directly accessible at this link.
The tracks are also available digitally on streaming portals such as apple and spotify
♪ Jan 22 They play Nobu's track again in Ireland!
I don't know how it got started, but another program on the RTE Lyric FM radio in Ireland has played a track from Nobu's OLD Harmoni Mundi Cliburn Competition CD, this time on their "Marty in the Morning" show.
It is a shame that the station seems to have no access to Nobu's newer CDs, but, hey, I am happy that Nobu is heard ion the Emerald Isle at all!
♪ Jan 18 Vladimir Ashkenazy retires
This just came up:
https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/vladimir-ashkenazy-retires/
International artist management Harrison Parrott has announced that conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, one of classical music’s most loved and respected figures, has retired from public performances.
We are saddened but wish him happy retirement.
He has been one of the conductors who has given Nobuyuki Tsujii great support.
Nobu considers him a 'sensei' (teacher/mentor).
They last performed together in Japan in 2018 on a tour of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Read about Mo. Askenazy's considerable influence on Nobu here -> Vladimir Ashkenazy retires
♪ January 3 Mr. Kawakami's New Year blog post
For some time now, Mr. Kawakami has not written about Nobu in web postings.
So I was happy that he wrote about Nobu again in his latest blog post:
... 昨年末は、ネルソン・フレイレの代役でオランダのコンセルトヘボウでのリサイタルから帰って来たばかりの辻井伸行君と会って、久しぶりのセッションとお話ができて嬉しかったです。昨年も辻井君はものすごい活動を駆け抜け、そして今年も数多くの海外公演やイベントが目白押しのようです。本当に大活躍で敬服します。
そしてもう今から数日後には新プログラムでの日本全国ツアーが始まるということで、今回彼にとっては珍しい作曲家と言ってもいいシューベルトやスクリャービンを弾くということで、それも聴かせていただきました。この2人の作曲家はこれまでのレパートリーになぜなかったのかが不思議なくらいに、どちらも彼のテイストに合った作曲家だと思います。素晴らしいツアーになることでしょう。
At the end of last year, I was glad to meet with Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii, who had just returned from a recital at the Concertgebouw, the Netherlands, on behalf of Nelson Freire, and talked with him for the first time in a long while. Last year, Mr. Tsujii ran through tremendous activities, and this year also seems to be packed with many overseas performances and events. I really admire him for his success.
And a few days from now, a nationwide tour with a new program will start, and I heard that this time he will play Schubert and Scriabin, which are unusal composers for him. It's strange that these two composers weren't in his repertoire so far, as I think they're both composers that match his taste. It will be a great tour.
♪ January 2 How did the family of Nobuyuki Tsujii 辻井伸行 celebrate New Year?🎇🥂
This instagram by his mother Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii shows pics of traditional Osechi おせち料理 -- "assortment of colorful dishes packed together in special boxes called jubako, served with French wine.
The food in separate compartments include jumbo prawns, dried lotus root, candy, pickled vegetables, olives, dates, fish eggs, sushi rolls ... [drool, drool,drool]
♪ January 1 2020 NEW YEAR TV SPECIALS aired on Asahi-BS.
The shows were aired as scheduled. They can still be watched on demand for 2 weeks via JapanNetTV (see Nobuyuki Tsujii Japan TV Specials -- how you can watch them online).
There are lots of tweets posted about the show, including one by Yura, with a clip of CHOPIN 1 footage, at https://twitter.com/icoyuraco/status/1212402050840985600
Another twitter shared a clip of the performance of Schumann's quintet performed with Fumiaki Miura and friends.
Unfortunately, the sound quality seems lacking, to my ear.
Play it here -> https://twitter.com/aki48727558/status/1212357702711558146
And a YouTube video -- an extract from the documentary.
"Appasionata" performed at the Cliburn Competition 10-year commemoration concert
Oops - looks like that video has already been taken down.
In Japan, Nobuyuki Tsujii fans are treated to annual TV specials around each New Year Day.
Asahi TV has just announced a new episode of their long-running "Miracle Pianist" series
https://www.bs-asahi.co.jp/tsujii2019/
奇跡のピアニスト辻井伸行～至高の旋律 新時代の調べ～
【放送日時】2020年1月1日（水）よる9：00～10：54
Miraculous pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii Supreme melody-Investigation of a new era- [this is a short title by Japanese standard :-)]
[Broadcast date and time] Wednesday, January 1, 2020 9:00 to 10:54 [PM?, to be confirmed]
The show will include footage about Nobu's Cliburn Competition commemorative concert held at Suntory Hall, including performance of Schumann's Quintet and Chopin Piano Concerto no. 1.
Also, on New Years Eve 21:00, a BS-ASAHI rebroadcast of last year's episode 奇跡のピアニスト辻井伸行 ～最高峰まで響け！盟友と挑んだ全記録～, featuring Nobu's performance with an ensemble of friends, including viiolinist Fumiaki Mira
YOU CAN WATCH THESE SHOWS ONLINE and on demand - see here Nobuyuki Tsujii 2019-20 year-end TV specials