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Nobuyuki Tsujii was on the cover of the March 2012 issue of the "Chopin" Magazine -- a magazine about classical music in Japan.
http://www.chopin.co.jp/200709renewal/monthly/monthly.html
http://www.fujisan.co.jp/yomimono/chopin/posts/127851
Inside there are a number of articles, with photos, about Nobu,. We
are grateful to a Nobu fan in Japan who shared the articles, and another Japanese Nobu fan who provided translation to some of the articles.
Please read on.
Richard Rodzinski on Nobuyuki Tsujii
(The Chopin magazine article included this paragraph from Richard Rodzinski, who was the president of the Van Cliburn Foundation until he retired shortly after the 2009 Cliburn Competition, which awarded a gold medal to Nobuyuki Tsujii. You might remember him from the last from in the competition's DVD -- "A Surprise in Texas" -- where he is shown with Nobu in a top hat; Mr. Rodzinski apparently put the top hat on Nobu, who was experiencing it with a broad, innocent smile on his file while Mr. Rodzinski looked on with obvious fondness. Richard Rodzinski is currently the director of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. There is a photo of him on his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/people/Richard-Rodzinski/1268580478 )
"I couldn't move at all"
"I would like to talk about the time that I met Nobu for the first time. It was February 22nd, 2009, when the screening audition of the Van Cliburn Competition was held in Fort Worth, Texas, in which Nobu participated from Japan. I started helping him out in the backstage as much as possible when I learned that he was visually impaired and he might have needed some support on stage. He was led to the piano with relaxed attitude and started playing, so I was going to go back to where his mother was (in the backstage.)
However, I was so fascinated by his Chopin etudes that I couldn't move at all until he finished playing. It was tremendously moving and unbelievably fantastic. When I went to see the jury members after his performance, I saw something that I had never seen before - every one of them was wiping the tears off their eyes. It was one of the scenes from my long competition experiences that I can never forget."
<NOTE: This is just my speculation, but Mr. Rodzinski -- in his position as the director of the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition -- may just have something to do with Nobu landing that choice St. Petersburg gig this 2012 July with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.>
Peter Rosen on Nobuyuki Tsujii
Peter said that he filmed Nobu at the Cliburn competition in May 2009, in 3 weeks.
It was the first time for him to film Nobu, and he never thought at the time that it would be the first of three videos.
Two-and-a half years had passed after the competition when Avex Cassics (Nobu's CD label in Japan) and Peter decided to film Nobu's debut at the Carnegie Hall.
Peter said that (at Carnegie) Nobu performed on the same stage as other great pianists (Rubinstein, Horowitz...) did in the last 120 years. Back stage, every staff member was moved by Nobu's performance.
Peter wonders about Nobu's future. about what kind of pianist he will become.
He said : The great classical music was composed in Europe and Russia about 2 centuries ago, but these days in those countries people are losing interest of classical music. Meanwhile, classical music is still being performed and beloved more in Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea. In the U.S., classical music is no longer taught at (some) schools.
Peter believes that Nobu is not perfect yet, and needs to study under a great teacher (professor) such as Leon Fleisher or Menahem Pressler.
He also thinks that Nobu should stop touring and recording CDs to study music in the U.S. or in Europe for a few years.
He is not sure where and when, but Peter really wants to film Nobu for the third video.
Fifteen Q & As -- Nobuyuki Tsujii interview, Chopin Magazine, March 2012 <Editorial: Nobu is characteristically terse in his responses :->
1. Favourite food and food that you don't like?
I don't like sweet stuff, there are so many food I like,it's hard to choose.
2. Favourite saying?
"Never give up"
3. Favourite composer?
Chopin, Beethoven, Listz, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff,and more...it's very hard to
choose.
4. Favourite place?
I like places that are surrounded with a natural environment.
5. Things in your bag that you carry all the time?
(A) mobile phone and a wallet.nothing special.
6. How to spend on your day off?
Refresh and practice.
7. The place you want to go?
I have never been to Latin America and north Europe,like Holland.
8. What did you think to want to become when you were a child?
A pianist. I was interested in jazz at the time.
9. The things that you want to challenge?
I have to overcome the challenge of adding many new works to my repertoire.
10. What do you do to care for your hands?
I'm not doing anything special about it.
11. Which song do you sing often?
"Enka". I often sing "Hikawa Kiyoshi's songs".
12. What things do you like to do lately?
Swimming at any place that I visit on tour.
13. If you could slip into the past, what would you want to be in and what would you want to do?
I want to meet Chopin.
14. What do you want to be if you were reborn?
Swimmer or chef.
I want to win the gold medal as a swimmer, or be an of Italian or French chef.
I want to talk to every single customer at their table after serving all meals,
asking how they think about the meal and so on.
Of cause I will get to train myself for a professional chef.
15. The thing that are important for you?
Family, friends, the audience who come to the concerts and listen to CDs;
people who support me and people I meet every day.
In another article, Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii -- Nobu's mother -- was interviewed. Most of the things written there is not new, but here is something said by Mrs. Tsujii that's interesting: Nobu has been making important decisions himself ever since he decided which high school he was going to enter. And he would not change his decisions once he makes up his mind. Itsuko is very much impressed that
Nobu never complains about anything, because unlike her son, she complains about many things.
Itsuko also said that she was worried that Nobu committed to compose for the Japan film "Hayabusa" as the Carnegie Hall debut recital neared. But Nobu said "don't worry" and, as mentioned above, once he makes up his mind, he does not change course. In the article, Itsuko said she had no idea that Nobu struggled to compose the music, until she saw the video (of the NHK December 2011 broadcast, in which Nobu was instructed by a senior Japanese composer on the art of composing.)
Conductor Inoue Michiyoshi was also interviewed -- he performed many times with Nobu, including Mozart #21 in September 2011. Said Michiyoshi: Nobu's Mozart is very wholesome, like the great Aldo Ciccolini. He (Nobu) is undoubtedly a genius.
However, Michiyoshi went on to say that he wishes that Nobu wouldn't have any more work than right now. (He doesn't say which kind of work, but perhaps he means Nobu's composing .)
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kashiwaino1/e/26de192f95f30ef7005b384ca15d94f2
A Japanese blog about the magazine article
先日、ピアニスト辻井伸行さんのお母さまから送られてきたメルマガで、雑誌「ＣＨＯＰＩＮ（ショパン）」３月号に、伸行さんの特集があると知らされたので さっそく求めました。特集記事は、このたび公開された映画『はやぶさ～遥かなる帰還』の音楽担当に、辻井伸行さんが抜擢（ばってき）されたという内容。プ ロデューサーから知らされた監督の瀧本智行氏は「映像を観ることができない辻井さんに、映画全編に音楽をつけるということが、本当にできるのだろうか」 と、不安に思う気持ちがあったそうです。しかし、ラッシュを見ながら横に座る辻井さんに説明していく中で、時に体を揺らせて興奮している辻井さんが、何か を感じている事が伝わってきたそうです。そして瀧本監督の次の言葉を読んで、私もぜひこの映画を見に行きたいと思いました。ラッシュ終了後、ピアノがある 部屋に入って辻井さんが感じる音楽を弾いてもらった時のこと。瀧本監督は「辻井さんの音楽は短編小説だ、僕は１行の強い”詩”がほしい。人の心にすっと落 ちてくるような、強い旋律がほしいんだ」といって、激しいやり取りをしたというのです。
監督は辻井さんの音楽を評して「天使がささやいているような印象を受けました。無垢な心で人を包み込むといのでしょうか。ぼくたちは世俗にまみれて汚れて いますが、彼の音楽にはそんな悲しみを救ってくれる純粋さがあるように感じます」と、表現しています。実はこの感想、私も辻井さんが作曲した音楽を聴いた ときの気持ちを、そのまま言葉に表してくれたように思えました。ショパンやモーツァルトなど、大作曲家の作品を奏でるのももちろん良いのですが、私は辻井 さん自身が作曲した演奏の方がより好きです。彼が、嬉々とした笑みを浮かべ、楽しげに首を振りながら弾く姿とともに。映画『はやぶさ』では、作曲家辻井伸 行の世界が堪能できることを、心から楽しみにしています。
(In the magazine article) the director of the Hayabusa film described Tsujii-san's music as follows: "I had an impression
that an angel was whispering. It's like his pure heart enwraps us. We are being too worldly and polluted, but I feel his music has purity that saves us from such sadness." I think this comment expressed exactly how I felt when I listened to Tsujii-san's own compositions. His performance of the pieces written by great composers are of course excellent, but I prefer his own compositions. I also like the way he looks when he performs them - he really looks so happy with his smiles and swaying his head. I truly look forward to enjoying the composer Nobuyuki Tsujii's world when I see the Hayabusa movie."
Followup:
A Nobu fan in Japan wrote: " I checked this month's Chopin magazine the other day to see if there's any mentioning of Nobu again. I looked at the readers' section because they usually publish the letters from readers who wrote about the previous issues. I want to let you know that many of the readers mentioned the feature about Nobu the most
enjoyable feature of that issue and some of them are pianists and piano teachers. Some of those readers wrote that they never miss any TV shows about Nobu and I was very happy to see those comments. I guess there are
more people just like us :-)"
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