CD-1

Continued from CDs and DVDs

Most recent first, not including anthology albums

♪  Nobuyuki Tusjii at White Nights DVD/Blu-ray (Nobuyiki Tsujii, piano; Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, conductor),

Released in 2013 by EuroArts Music and in Japan by Avex Classics http://avexnet.jp/id/tujin/discography/product/AVBL-25533.html?avex=topnew

Available on U.S. Amazon

My thoughts

♪  神様のカルテ ～辻井伸行 自作集 Nobuyuki Tsujii Works 2000-2011

AVCL-25771/B -- recorded in Japan

Released December 26, 2012

Available on U.S. Amazon

**Track samples =>  RippleTunes

**Track samples => HMV Japan

My blog post: Nobu's Songs: "Nobuyuki Tsujii Works 2000-2011" CD

♪ Nobuyuki Tsujii Carnegie Hall Live DVD

EuroArts, released in June 2012

Available on U.S. Amazon

♪ はやぶさ 遥かなる帰還 オリジナル・サウンドトラック The soundtrack of the film "Return of the Hayabusa Falcon"

AVCL-25751

Released 2012

Available on U.S. Amazon

To my ears, this music is world class.  There are only a couple of piano tracks, but the main theme, rendered by different instruments (including a soprano's haunting rendition)  and in orchestral arrangements, is immensely listenable as background music. 

**Track samples => HMV Japan

You can hear Nobu's main theme for the film on the sound track of this YouTube Video of a trailer for the film => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IAButz_Mp0 (starting at time mark 1:02)

♪  辻井伸行 カーネギーホール・デビューLIVE Nobuyuki Tsujii Carnegie Hall Debut Live! (CD and DVD)

AVCL-25747.html

 Nobuyuki Tsujii debuted at the Carnegie Hall, New York, on Nov.ember 10, 2011.  This is an album of live recording of most of the pieces performed.

The CD is released by  Avex Classics on December 28, 2011.

Available on U.S. Amazon.

 A blogger's review (in Japanese)

** Track Samples => HMV Japan

** Track Samples => HMV Japan

♪ Chopin Nobuyuki Tsujii (also known as My Favorite Chopin Nobuyuki Tsujii).

This is a post-Cliburn album issued by Avex in March 2010. It is available through outlets in Japan such as http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ as well as from http://www.amazon.ca/ (at an equivalent price).

This is a priceless album. Recorded in Germany, the sound quality is superb, and Nobuyuki's performance is spellbinding. There are 10 tracks: Andante spinato, Grand Polonaise, Ballade op.23, Mazurkas, op 24, Nocturnes, op. 27, fantaisie. I have grown to love them all, but the beauty of the opening two tracks (Andante spinato, Grand Polonaise) took my breath away.

Available on U.S. Amazon

Here is a moving video put out by avex on the making of this album, featuring the whole recording of Chopin’s Nocturnes, Op. 27 No 2, in the studio in Germany. Nobu is seen walking in snow to the studio.

**Track samples => HMV Japan

**Track samples => RippleTunes

♪ ムソルグスキー：展覧会の絵、リスト：ため息、リゴレット・パラフレーズ 辻井伸行

Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition.

This is Nobuyuki's second post-Cliburn album, issued by Avex in September 2010 and is downloadable from iTunes, with the CD available through outlets in Japan such as http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ and also from http://www.amazon.ca/

Available on U.S. Amazon

Nobuyki has performed the pieces from this album in the recitals on his U.S. 2010 October tour. People who enjoy Mussorgsky's suite praise Nobuyuki's performance; although I have never been a fan of the suite, I enjoy listening to it on this CD. But my passion lies with the last two tracks, which are Listz's "Un Sospiro: ("The Sigh") and Rigoletto Paraphrase. As good as he is in interpreting the gentle poetry of Chopin, Nobuyuki understands Listz's swashbuckling lyric. "The Sigh" is drop-dead gorgeous, and the "Rigoletto Paraphrase", in the hands of Nobuyuki, has a boyishness that's especially endearing to me. Having heard these tracks at one of his recitals, I now love them more than ever.

This album was released in Europe in August 2011 by Challenge Classics.http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Challenge%2BClassics/CC72526 Also see a mentioning of it on a Spanish portal: http://www.diverdi.com/portal/detalle.aspx?id=46284

**Track samples => RippleTunes

**Track samples => HMV Japan

♪ Nobuyuki Tsujii - Yutaka Sado - BBC Philharmonic Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, 2011

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AVCL-25725

Available on U.S. Amazon

This is  a studio performance recorded in the BBC Studio at Manchester, England, on the day after a successful performance of the concerto at the Victoria Hall in  Hanley, England.

Also: a version combined with their Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2 See: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AVCL-25723

The single-disc edition contains the concerto and a solo piece of Schumann's Papillons, a favorite on the program of  Nobu's "Pictures at an Exhibition" recital.  The two-disc edition will contain the Tchaikovsky Concerto as well as

their Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2, along with two solo pieces: Schumann's Papillons and Liszt's Hugnarian Rhapsody.  See: amazon.com Japan and www.cdjapan.co

See Tchaikovsky's Concerto and Schumann's Papillons

**Track samples => HMV Japan

♪ 辻井伸行  ショパン・コンクール 2005~ショパン作品集 Chopin: Piano Works - 2005 Chopin Piano Competition

These are two discs of  recordings of Nobuyuki's live performances at the 2005 Chopin Competition.  The album is manufactured and distributed by Victor Entertainment, Inc. of Japan.  Nobu was only age 17 at the time.  The tracks include a seleciton of  Chopin's  sonatas, preludes and mazuka.  I highly recommend this album. 

Available on U.S. Amazon

The music on the two discs of this album is a gem and, price-wise, the album is  a bargain in comparison to his more recent CDs.  Tracks not found in his later CDs include Etude in C sharp minor Op.25-6, Nocturne in B minor Op. 62-1, Waltz in F major, Op.34-3, Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op.60, Preludes Op.28, 19 through 24 (heartfelt happiness, funeral march, Sunday, impatience, a pleasure boat, the storm), Sonata No 3 in B minor, Op.58.  Not only is the music in this album wonderful -- his Scherzo in B minor, Op. 31, No 2 was already near perfection -- but it's a good benchmark of how Nobuyuki had evolved by the time he won the Cliburn.  This album can be ordered from Amazon.  Billboard Japan listing

** Track Samples => HMV Japan

♪ 辻井伸行 debut Debut Nobuyuki Tsujii

Two discs (second disc contains Nobu's own compositions)

released by Avex Classics in 2007; its sales skyrocketed in Japan after Nobu's Cliburn win.   This is Nobu's all-time best seller.

Available on U.S. Amazon

**Track samples => HMV Japan

**Track samples => Amazon Japan

continued on Nobuyuki's CDs - 2