Notable web postings -- January 2021

Continued from Notable web postings -- December 2020 

More archival of past postings can be found at Notable web postings archive

Upcoming concerts

January 8 19:00 Nerima Art Museum "Chopin-Portrait of 200 Years" Commemorative Exhibition: Nobuyuki Tsuji Piano Recital-All Chopin Program"

January 14 Seattle Symphony Orchestra  Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington -- DOUBTFUL

January 31 - February 18 "Romantic" recitals Japan Tour

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POSTS

January 31 This is quite a tribute to Nobuyuki Tsujii and the [Tokyo] Olympics.  NEW YouTube video -- Excellent animation short 'Little pearls: Olympic arpeggios' with Chopin Etude 10-1 by Nobuyuki Tsujii. "Chopin knew nothing about the Olympics, but his etudes are a challenge at every piano competition. Nevil Bernard's film."  The description of the video is in German, but it lists 'Production Arte France."

Jan 31 Just informed by fellow U.S. Nobu fan Linda Kipps that the 1st encore by Nobuyuki Tsujii yesterday in Japan is in fact Widmung (Liebeslied)[ = 献呈 in Japanese & 'dedication' in English). Here is Kissin playing it https://youtube.com/watch?v=-5_jzx1mPLA Wrote Linda: "I can only imagine how beautiful this piece must be in the hands of Nobu!"  We want to hear it!! 

January 29 The JRA（日本中央競馬会）(Japan Race Association) CM (commercial), with background music by Nobuyuki Tsujii, is up and can be viewed at https://jra.jp/gallery/ads/# Click on "社会活動篇30秒"[Social activity 30 seconds]. Nobu's name is not mentioned -- how disrespectful!    UPDATE: My bad -- Nobu's name and the song title "For Tomorrow" does appear as subtitles on screen.

January 29 The July 24 Verbier Festival recital is now listed on the English side of the official Nobuyuki Tsujii website:  https://avex.jp/tsujii/tsujii-en/live/tour.php?id=1001957 

This is the first new overseas concert listed after a VERY LONG time, and a very promising sign.

Rejoice!

January 28 As promised, the Verbier Festival has just unveiled this year's program. Nobu's appearance is slated for July 24, and it will be a recital of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Chopin's ballades, and 2 Liszt pieces. Tickets can already be purchased, at https://www.verbierfestival.com/.../mainstage-2021-07-24.../ Backstory at Nobuyuki Tsujii at Verbier Festival 2021

January 27 COVID poetry

twitter.com/iyashinoka.../status/1354359773173432322 

"Kōrakuen deserted. Be patient and spread your fantasies until the children's cheers return. What is the color of the wind? I hope Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii will ask." Kōrakuen 後楽園, in Okayama, is "one of 3 Great Gardens of Japan". 

This reminds me of what Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii wrote in a recent instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CJsqlFQDq-C/: "景色は変わらないのに世界は変わってしまって悲しいです！ It is sad that the scenery has not changed, but life has."

January 25 Instagram from Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii: "Today is the anniversary of my mother's death ... She gave my birth at age 40, & had a long life reaching 99 years old. I cannot forget that even after she turned 90, she was applauding at the concerts of Nobuyuki." With lovely photos, including one of the beautiful lady seated with young Nobu in shorts, circa age 10? 

January 25  https://twitter.com/Grum_U/status/1353645489724395520 "Tickets for Nobuyuki Tsujii concert ... sold out." This tweet apparently refers to a recital of the upcoming Schumann-Liszt tour (Jan 31 - Feb 18). As always, I am touched by the continued support for Nobu in Japan. But I have to wonder: when might those of us overseas get to see him again🥺? 

January 25 A tweeter wrote:  "Relaxing after a meal. Recently, my mother often watches Nobuyuki Tsujii's performance. And me too. This is one of my favorites. Beautiful, clear separation of grains of sound ..." The video is Nobu's Kapustin etude https://youtu.be/RVFszGGFykQ uploaded by me -- it has garnered nearly 2 million views in 3 years. 

January 23 https://twitter.com/hutyouza/status/1353158873989963776 A twitter posted about a scene from a video that I uploaded years ago, 'Nobuyuki Tsujii in Switzerland 2014' . Nobu is on a ferry heading for the summer home of Rachmaninov. A swan swims up close and splashes water with his wings. Nobu leans down and says, "Hello, Mr. Swan ..." . The tweeter wrote: "Is it a voice from an honest & fun-loving heart?" I found that scene endearing, and am glad that quite a few Japanese viewers have commented on it. The video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yodNGY_Kpw8

January 20 https://twitter.com/icoyuraco/status/1352103892356534272 Yura tweeted a clip of Nobuyuki Tsujii in a 3-piano 4-artist performance with fellow Avex artists 加古隆 Takashi Kako & レ・フレール Les Freres, in a "The Pianist" [not quite classical music] concert popular in Japan. 5 more shows in April were announced today. See 2021 "The Pianist" Special 

January 20  Lately, there has been a deluge of uploads of YouTube videos extracted from Nobuyuki Tsujii TV specials that have aired in Japan.  These videos are godsends amid these miserable COVID-19 days. Sadly, for those of us who do not understand spoken Japanese, we are all too aware that we miss out on a lot of the nuances.

So it's good to see a thoughtful blog post about one of these videos, clearly written by a piano lover. The blogger describes a scene from the 2017 episode of the World Travel Series, where Nobu visits the studio of a master piano restorer on the left bank of the Seine.   See here: Nobuyuki Tsujii visits an old piano studio in Paris

January 20 Yet more online treats! 

New on YouTube: 辻井さん『今日の風、何色？』 Nobuyuki Tsujii "What color is today's wind? " played for his mother Ituko Tsujii, who authored a book of that title about bringing up her son.

Tweet by Yura: Nobu plays Liszt's Consolation no. 3 at his June 2020 online salon concert

January 19 Is it because of the #COVID anxiety? Footage of past TV shows of Nobuyuki Tsujii has been showing up on YouTube every day! This one is a 2015 TV show of Nobu being selected as one of 15 great musicians by violinist 葉加瀬太郎 Taro Hakase, revered in Japan.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyI0wUaL6kM

January 19 https://avex.jp/tsujii/news/detail.php?id=1088922 Official News: Nobuyuki Tsujii free mini-bag with CD purchase at his concerts starting Jan 31. The tote bag is all black, imprinted with an artistic drawing of Nobu at the piano. I would take one! And it seems the Schumann-Liszt recitals are proceeding as planned. I admire the confidence and hope it all goes well. 

an 18 Coming up February 12 is Chinese New Year. It is Year of the Ox, for Diligent, dependable, strong, determined folks (me!) (See https://chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/ ) 

BTW, our beloved Nobuyuki Tsujii, born 1988, is a Dragon. 

Of note: Mr. Trump is a Dog and Mr. Biden is a Horse... 

Image source: http://dreamtime.com 

January 17 Yet another new video has shown up on the 'World Classical Music' YouTube Channel: "辻井伸行 パリ紀行 【完全版】in paris ,nobuyuki tujii [COMPLETE 2017 episode of 'Music Travels' series ]"

 -- recital at Theatre Champs Elysee, George Sands' house, two-piano Mozart with high-school pal, etc.

Background story "Nobuyuki Tsujii in Paris" 2017 documentary

January 17 NEW on YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd4_6dqIHek "辻井伸行 徹子の部屋 2010年 Nobuyuki Tsujii on 2010 'Tetsuko Room' TV Show" Legendary Japan TV show host Tetsuko visits Nobu & his mother at their Tokyo home soon after Nobu's The Cliburn​ victory. A rare glimpse of Nobu's family home environment at the time, and a humorous take on the Hayashi Rice dish prepared by Mrs. Tsujii that supposedly brought good luck to Nobu's piano competition successes. Background story at 2010 Tetsuko no Heya TV Show

Jan 16 2021 NEW on YouTube: [COMPLETE PERFORMANCE]Nobuyuki Tsujii plays Beethoven's "Six Bagatelles" no. 5, for encore at an All Beethoven recital on Oct 4 2020.

Background story at https://mlliu2006.blogspot.com/2020/05/2020-ark-hills-festival.html

January 14 This hour-long video has just shown up on YouTube: Nobuyuki Tsujii 2021 New Year Day TV documentary part 1 (part 2 [with fresh 2020 footage] will be uploaded soon) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SUaflXMxEM You can read about the documentary at 2021 Nobuyuki Tsujii Fuji TV Travel Series 

January 15 UPDATE The second half is now at www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqoE7TGlqoE 

January 14 https://www.instagram.com/p/CKBmM2lF-1u/ Japanese dancer Marikusa Hanayagi interviews Nobuyuki Tsujii on his New Year TV special, and posted a photo of herself presenting flowers to Nobu: "It was my first interview with him; he played the piano in front of me for a short time, saying, 'Because you came here ...'.

Goosebumps stood as the miracle unfolded in front of me; and I trembled, thinking 'Oh, I'm glad I am alive.' It was a really great sound ... We pray for his continued success in the future." More at BS-Asahi New Year Special

January 14 https://twitter.com/icoyuraco/status/1349925443835555842 Tweet by Yura, with a 2-minute clip: "Nobuyuki Tsujii & Fumiaki Miura play 'Salut d'Amour' by Elgar, a piece dedicated to his future wife Caroline to commemorate their engagement." The footage is from Nobu's July 2020 online concert and is almost complete. You can read about the concert at Nobuyuki Tsujii online salon concert

January 13 Last November there was an episode of the "lalalaClassic" show in Japan featuring Nobuyuki Tsujii & his good friend violinist Fumiaki Miura.  A video of the complete show has just shown up on YouTube.  The theme is 'The secret of the duo'. The two play some pieces and talk with the hosts, in Japanese of course (rough auto-generated subtitles available). More at Nobuyuki Tsujii & Fumiaki Miura on 'LaLaLaClassic'

January 12 Twitter Yura shared a clip of Nobu playing the opening of the 2nd mvt of Liszt's piano concerto ->  https://twitter.com/icoyuraco/status/1348900294298456072 T. I was in Hamburg for this performance by Nobuyuki Tsujii with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

& Kent Nagano in October 2019. I didn't know just how fortunate I was! This passage shown in the clip, to me, is the jewel of Liszt's concerto. There is a video of the full performance at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWFkYzu0EgY

January 8 2021

Nobu was scheduled to perform Mozart in Seattle on January 14 & 16, with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra & female New Zealand conductor.   To no one's surprise, these performances have been cancelled.  It would have been Nobu's first performance of the West Coast of U.S. after too long, but, now is no time for Nobu to come to our troubled country (COVID & politics).

Otherwise we can look forward to the unveiling of a new ad tune  in Japan on Jan 7 , and the lineup of the Verbier festival on Jan 28..

January 7  Covid Emergency declared for Tokyo, but Jan 8 concert goes on

 As expected, COVID emergency was declared in Japan by their government, but restrictions seem to be targeted at drinking & eating establishments, although people are advised to stay at home after 8 p.m.  I checked and as of this morning (it is 4AM Jan 8 in Japan), there is no announcement of Nobu's sold-out  re-scheduled special all-Chopin recital at a Tokyo museum, today at 7PM.  Let's hope that safety measures will be duly taken.  UPDATE: The venue tweeted around 1PM Japan time that the concert will take place, but "in conformance with the [COVID] emergency measures, the performance will be shortened."  

Also, I can't find a cancellation notice for the Jan 14&15 辻井伸行 Nobuyuki Tsujii concerts with Seattle Symphony, but the performances have disappeared from the orchestra's calendar. Hardly surprising in light of #COVID19 & political turmoil in the U.S. 

January 4 This insightful post from a Japanese thread about  developmental disability came up on Twitter yesterday:

[Translated] Take a look at Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii, he seems to play the piano effortlessly, but in truth he is making a tremendous effort. He doesn't come across as 'I'm trying hard'. He seems to enjoy making the effort of working hard ..." 

Continued at "He seems to enjoy making the effort"

January 4 

Nobu is the year's first featured artist on the U.S. podcast Sunday Baroque's "Beautiful Music in Difficult Times" https://sundaybaroque.org/beautiful-music-in-difficult-times-january-4/ 

January 4 

Instagram from the Fondi Music Festival (Italy)

January 4th is World Braille Day. In honor of this anniversary, the Fondi Music Festival offers you the monumental concert for piano and orchestra n. 2 by Sergej Rachmaninov performed by the talented Nobuyuki Tsujii, blind from birth. Happy listening www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGX3temma5Q 

January 2 

A twitter wrote this comment after watching the New Year TV special [translated] "Conventional classical performances would normally be boring, but Mr. Tsujii's isn't. It wasn't until I knew him that I thought the job of a pianist is to express the feelings of the composer, not himself. " Continued at 2021 special "Miracle Pianist"

January 1 2021

I have now watched the entire show, about 2 hours long.

The second half is footage from the "The Best" recital performed at Suntory Hall this past September, as speculated.  Of the tracks on the program: most of 'Moonlight', Jeux d'eau, Raindrop, Fastasie Impromptu, most of "A sigh", and La Campanella are shown in full. Of the 3 encores, only Nobu's excellent 'smile' is shown. So, sadly, no Rachmaninov's 'Bell' prelude.

It's worth every dime of my mini-subscription to get to see the show. I am thankful.  I especially love the camera angles, which show the astonishing finger work and hand movements of Nobu in close-up. No overhead shots, which, though impressive, does not really let us see how those fingers move.

Comments, photos & videos can be found at  a new special "Miracle Pianist"

January 1 2021 

Instagram from Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii, with photos of sumptuous Japanese New Year food: whole sea bream (fish brings good luck) & Osechi (finger food in decorative compartmentalized box). We can imagine her son, beloved Nobuyuki Tsujii, takes a few bites. :-)

January 1 2021 The  "Miracle Pianist" show has been aired in Japan, and there is a torrent of tweets posted.  However, few with clips.

I will be watching the show on demand in due time.  It seems that the footage shown is a lot of CHOPIN, including the Fantasie Impromptu, according to web postings.

Meanwhile, freshly uploaded on New Year Day, from Japan, 辻井伸行Nobuyuki Tsujii plays CHOPIN nocturne no. 2 in 2020. I believe the footage is from the show.

January 1 2021 Happy New Year!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJe29Snj4WU/ Instagram from Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii: "Happy New Year. Thank you again this year." With photos of her with Nobu. Nobu is seen in long-sleeve blue striped shirt and jeans, playing on a piano at their Tokyo home. There is the faint shadow of a mustache above his lips but he looks healthy and fit. :-)

December 31 2020

The re-broadcast of last year's episode aired late this evening in Japan, and, judging from web postings, there were many viewers even though the show was broadcast at the same time as a popular "Red & White" NHK紅白 singing contest show aired on another channel.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJduHpcAko6/ <- click to see a clip of Nobu playing CHOPIN 1 at the 2019 ARK festival  "2020 is about to end while listening to Nobuyuki Tsujii's piano. .. .. When I listen to Nobuyuki Tsujii's piano, 'What am I doing' always comes to mind. Tears invariably overflow. 2021 May it be a good year for everyone." 

Today Jan 1 a new special a new special "Miracle Pianist" airs at 7PM Japan time.