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Nobuyuki Tsujii, piano When Gold Medalist Nobuyuki Tsujii (pronounced No-boo-you-key Soo-gee) rose from the piano having completed his final performance at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, audience members leapt to their feet, and jurors were moved to tears by his passionate interpretation of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11. The extraordinary and poignant performance by the young pianist from Japan and resulting audience fervor has taken on a momentum that Time Magazine coined "Nobu Fever." Mr. Tsujii is in high demand by presenters and orchestras worldwide and has catapulted to rock star status in Japan. In the 2009-2010 season alone, he performed over 50 engagements throughout Asia, in addition to appearances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Aspen Music Festival and Academy in Colorado, Houston Society for the Performing Arts, Klavier-Festival Ruhr in Germany, and in recitals across the United States and Europe. In the summer of 2010, Mr. Tsujii made an acclaimed debut at the Ravinia Festival, which the Chicago Tribune praised for "fearless technical assurance, accuracy and musicality...the rounded tone, suppleness of line and lyrical grace he brought." He followed this with an appearance at a gala event featuring all three medalists of the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in concert with the National Orchestra of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo and a residency at the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy. Highlights of Mr. Tsujii's 2010-2011 season include appearances at the Mondavi Center and UCLA Performing Arts Center with the Takács Quartet and a tour of Japan with the BBC Philharmonic under the baton of Vladimir Spivakov. He will perform solo recitals in all regions of the United States during October and April, as well as in concert with the Edmonton, Hudson Valley, and Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestras. A European tour in the winter will take him to Belgrade, Berlin, Basel, Manchester, and Moscow. In addition to his gold medal, Mr. Tsujii won the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work for his interpretation of John Musto's Improvisation & Fugue, which he performs again as part of the Cliburn at the Modern series in Fort Worth in October 2010. His ability to learn and perform challenging scores was referenced by Scott Cantrell in his review for The Dallas Morning News: "It's almost beyond imagining that he has learned scores as formidable as Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata by ear...Through all three rounds, he played with unfailing assurance, and his unforced, utterly natural Chopin E-Minor Piano Concerto was an oasis of loveliness." A documentary of his extraordinary achievement as the first-ever Gold Medalist from Japan in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was broadcast on NHK television throughout Japan. Peter Rosen's documentary of the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, A Surprise in Texas, features Mr. Tsujii prominently and was released to critical acclaim. The success of his debut recording, debut, on the Avex label led to a second recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin. A third all-Chopin recording is soon to be released. The live recording of his appearance at the Cliburn Competition was released by harmonia mundi and named "Critic's Choice" by Japan's foremost recording magazine Record Geijutsu. His complete competition performances are available at Cliburn.tv. Blind since birth, Nobuyuki, who is referred to as "Nobu," believes that "there are no barriers in the field of music." His philosophy was first affirmed at the age of 7 when he was named first-prize winner at the All Japan Blind Students Music Competition. At the age of 12, he made noted recital debuts at Tokyo's Suntory Hall and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Since then, he has appeared throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and played with most of Japan's leading orchestras, as well as the Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, and the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. In 2005, at the age of 16, he was presented the Critic's Award at the Fifteenth International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in Poland. Mr. Tsujii enjoys swimming, skiing, hiking, and communing with nature. When he met with 275 piano students in the Dallas-Fort Worth area following the competition, he advised them to "Please practice your best, but also please remember that you have to take the time to experience life to give your music meaning. I do things like mountain climbing, swimming, skiing, walking by the river. Whatever you like to do, this will help you enjoy your music more." In 2011 Tsujii is touring under the auspices of the Cliburn Competition, and will make his Carnegie Hall debut in November, 2011.  Comments following the 2009 Van Cliburn described Nobu's playing to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "He was absolutely miraculous. His performance had the power of a healing service. It was truly divine." 2009 Van Cliburn Competition Juror Richard Dyer, the veteran music critic of the The Boston Globe, said, "Very seldom do I close my notebook and just give myself over to it, and he made that necessary. I didn't want to be interrupted in what I was hearing." 2009 Van Cliburn Competition Juror and distinguished pianist Michel Béroff told the Japanese monthly piano magazine Chopin, "The special thing about his performance is his sound. It has depth, color and contrast, the genuine music." In the documentary "A Surprise in Texas", Menahem Pressler, another Cliburn juror and an eminent pianist, says: "I have the utmost admiration for (Nobuyuji Tsujii.) God has taken his eyes, but given him the physical endowment and mental endowment to encompass the greatest works of piano. For him to play the Chopin concerto with such sweetness, gentleness and sincerity; it's deeply touching. I had to keep from crying when I listened." In his review of the 2009 Van Cliburn competition for The Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell wrote that "It's almost beyond imagining that he has learned scores as formidable as Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata by ear…Through all three rounds, he played with unfailing assurance, and his unforced, utterly natural Chopin E-Minor Piano Concerto was an oasis of loveliness." Conductor John Giordano, jury chairman for the 2009 Cliburn competition, said, "He's amazing. We closed our eyes and it's so phenomenal that it's hard to withhold your tears. Nobu played the most difficult hour-long Beethoven piece (Hammerklavier, Sonata no. 29) flawlessly. For anyone, it's extraordinary. But for someone blind who learns by ear, it's mind-boggling."  |
Sunday, October 9, 2010 Read the online review of this concert W. A. Mozart Mozart Franz Liszt Liszt Intermission Modest Mussorgsky Tsujii's semifinal recital at the Van Cliburn Competition "Surprise in Texas" Dallas News review of the film Video In the video control bar, the YouTube logo takes you to more Nobu videos, and the "expand" icon lets you view full-screen video. |
