This month, May 20 through 28 2023, Conductor Vasily Petrenko & the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) of United Kingdoms tour Japan with Nobuyuki Tsujii. This page collects news, comments and photos as events unfold and will be updated continually. The tour schedule and concert program can be found near the bottom of this page.
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NEWS
May 21 14:00 Osaka Festival Hall -- Program B
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May 20
https://www.instagram.com/p/Csd6-R7y0Qx
Instagram by Mrs. Itsuko Tsujii (Nobu's mom): "A safe opening day of the Royal Philharmonic tour with conductor Petrenko. Welcome! It was Rafuma [Rachmaninov]'s No. 3, so he [Nobu] sweated like he took a shower. It was the first time in a while that the dressing room was opened to close friends, and everyone was smiling♪" With a nice backstage photo of Nobu [in tux, smiling], Mrs. Tsujii and guests.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra& Mr. Petrenko received praises on the web, and Nobu's Rach 3? "The appearance of Mr. Tsujii listening to the applause coming down from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor was impressive."
Tweet by @frasercontra, the RPO head of the woodwind section/contrabassoonist
https://twitter.com/frasercontra/status/1659740233121026050
"Rehearsing Rachmaninov at what feels to us like 1:30am
Good Morning Japan 🇯🇵 #RPOontour "
Image of concert poster at the venue, with "SOLD OURT" sign.
Nobuyuki Tsujii official instagram, with a photo of the rehearsal on stage
https://www.instagram.com/p/CscxElWRvL9/
2023年5月20日
ヴァシリー・ペトレンコ指揮
ロイヤル・フィルハーモニー管弦楽団
#福岡シンフォニーホール
#アクロス福岡
ヴァシリー、ロイヤルフィルとの国内ツアー、本日福岡から始まりました。
久しぶりのラフマニノフ3番を初共演となるロイヤルフィルと演奏することができて、リハ中も楽しすぎて興奮しちゃいました笑
本番を迎えるのを今からワクワクしています。
お越しのお客様に会えるのを楽しみにしております！
May 20, 2023
Conducted by Vasily Petrenko
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
#Fukuoka Symphony Hall
#Acros Fukuoka
The domestic tour with Vasily [first-name only!] and the Royal Philharmonic starts today in Fukuoka.
I was able to perform Rachmaninoff No. 3 after a long time & with the Royal Philharmonic for the first time, and I had so much fun during the rehearsal that I got really excited lol.
I'm already excited about the performance.
We are looking forward to seeing you!
Note: It is good that he calls Petrenko by his first name!
Mrs. Itusko Tsujii wrote on Instagram that she was on her way to Fukuoka, so hopefully we will see some backstage photos from her.
May 17
https://twitter.com/rpoonline/status/1658862500278878209 RPO tweet
... we've just finished our rehearsals and are about to set off! Find out about everywhere we're playing at http://rpo.co.uk/japan
With a black-and-white photo of Mo. Petrenko directing the orchestra
NOTE: In the past, Nobu traveled to U.K. to rehearse with the orchestra in advance, to minimize the number of days of hosting a full orchestra in Japan. Not this time, perhaps due to scheduling constraints. I guess the Rach 3 rehearsal will have to take place in Japan with the full orchestra.
May 16 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwK1QuLhJhg This clip was uploaded a week ago by Avex but hardly got any notice because it was not easy to find on the Nobuyuki Official site. It is a pretty well made promotional clip for the upcoming Japan tour of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Vasily Petrenko& Nobu, starting soon on May 22. Nobu, looking spiffy, speaks in Japanese after the opening at time mark 0:30.
Tour homepage https://avex.jp/classics/rpo2023/
SCHEDULE
- May 20 14:00 Fukuoka Symphony Hall - Program A
- May 21 14:00 Osaka Festival Hall -- Program B
- May 22 19:00 Suntory Hall -- Program A
- May 23 19:00 [Gunma] Takasaki Arts Theater Grand Theater -- Program B
- May 24 19:00 Bunkyo Civic Hall Large Hall -- Program A
- May 26 19:00 Suntory Hall -- Program B
- May 27 14:00 Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater Concert Hall Program A
- May 28 14:00 Tokorozawa Civic Cultural Center Muse Ark Hall -- Program S
Program A
Glière: Overture on a Slavic Theme
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 ``Pathetique''
Program B
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Program S
Glière: Overture on a Slavic Theme
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 ``Pathetique''
Image below: The 3 programs in Japanese, compliments of twitter @nezuminosawakai
he friendship of conductor Vasily Petrenko & Nobuyuki Tsujii goes back a
long way, dating from 2014 when they first performed in Liverpool, U.K. [I was there],
where Mo. Petrenko was the much beloved principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philhmaronic Orchestra (RLPO). In the years since, Nobu, the RLPO and Mo. Petrenko co-performed almost every
year, including two very successful tours in Japan in 2015 and 2018.
Image below: Vasily Petrenko & Nobuyuki Tsujii at Suntory Hall, 2015.
Just before the COVID outbreak, in September 2019, Nobu was in Liverpool to perform with Mo. Petrenko Rach 2 in the orchestra's 2019 season opener, followed by a performance of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto in Norway in January 2020. Petrenko & Nobu were to appear at the 2020 BBC Proms with the RLPO in a performance of the Paganini Variations. Sadly, that performance never took place during the pandemic. Meanwhile, conductor Petrenko and the RLPO parted ways after the 2020-21 season to become the new Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [RPO] in 2021.
This upcoming Japan Tour marks the reunion of the two old friends for the first time since 2020, this time with a new orchestra. This tour is one of the first major foreign-orchestra tours in Japan after COVID, and the schedule is arduous-- 8 performances in 9 days; the first 5 and the last 3 on consecutive days!
We wish them the greatest success on this jam-packed tour of 8 stops over 9 days!
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RELATED ARTICLES
- Nobuyuki Tsujii & Vasily Petrenko Japan Tour 2023
- Vasily Petrenko & Nobuyuki Tsujii -- back together in 2023
LINKS
https://www.facebook.com/royalphilharmonicorchestra/
https://mobile.twitter.com/rpoonline
https://www.instagram.com/royalphilorchestra/
https://www.facebook.com/vasilypetrenkoofficial/
https://www.instagram.com/vasily__petrenko/