"The pianos also get tired in December." -- Nobuyuki Tsujii, according to a tweet
"... no sound came out from the keyboard." -- an eyewitness
UPDATE:
According to this blog post, the piano malfunction was more than just the snapping of a key -- but instead "no sound came out from the keyboard." I also like the conclusion of this blogger, a car enthusiast no less!
http://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/2513731/blog/39037772/ [ posting on a car-enthusiasts forum]
Last week, Nobuyuki Tsujii launched a 20-performance Bach/Mozart/Beethoven recital tour in Japan that will go on through March 2017 (with two interruptions on the calendar). Last night, he was in Chiba for his third performance on the tour, when, according to postings on Twitter, Nobu had to abruptly abandon his performance of Mozart's Sonata No. 17 in the midst of the third movement.
Following are some of the tweets that came up:
Instrument malfunction at a concert -- it happens. A string, or a hammer, might have snapped.
It's not the first time that such things happened to Nobu. In 2013, Nobu toured Japan with Yutaka Sado and the BBC Philharmonic. During one performance, the piano started to move because it was not properly locked down. According to tweets, the BBC Phil concertmaster, a big admirer of Nobu, leaped up without hesitation to come to the rescue of Nobu.
I did a search on the web. It seems piano malfunction in mid-performance is extremely rare. But it does happen.
It happened to rocker Axl Rose when at a Guns N' Roses Show earlier this year.
And it happened to pianist Yuja Wang in a May 2014 performance with the San Francisco Symphony Orchcestra. According to a concert review:
In the book"The Virtuoso Liszt" (Dana Gooley, p . 108), it is said that "Liszt's tendency to break piano strings and keys in performance ... motivated him to keep two pianos on stage." It has been written elsewhere that Liszt's adoring women fans fought each other for his broken piano strings.
These things happen. Imagine the pressure felt by the poor piano technician who had to perform the repair on stage. The Japanese has a saying: 仕方が無いshikata ga nai ("It cannot be helped") -- that applies to such situation. Nobu is not a heavy hitter on the piano. Let's hope that this incident may just be a one-time quirk. In any case, it sounds like Nobu handled the crisis with admirable aplomb, although I do wonder what would happen if something like that comes up when Nobu performs in Europe, as he is scheduled to do in February -- he would not be able to speak to the audience ...
![]()
Drawing source: http://blog.livedoor.jp/kashi57move/archives/52027485.html
"... no sound came out from the keyboard." -- an eyewitness
UPDATE:
According to this blog post, the piano malfunction was more than just the snapping of a key -- but instead "no sound came out from the keyboard." I also like the conclusion of this blogger, a car enthusiast no less!
http://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/2513731/blog/39037772/ [ posting on a car-enthusiasts forum]
2016年12月21日
辻井伸行
おはようございます。
昨夜、辻井伸行の演奏を聴く機会に恵まれ、松戸にある、森のホール21へ。
音源はいくつか持っていて、やはり盲目というハンデキャップを考えると既に衝撃的ですが、生で観るとそれはもう関係なく、途中、ある鍵盤から音が出なくなる(!)という本人も初めての経験だというハプニングもありましたが、約2時間、2度のアンコールにも応えてくれて、ひたすら圧倒的な表現力と緩急自在なプレイを堪能しました。
December 21, 2016
Nobuyuki Tsujii
Last night, I had the opportunity to listen to Nobuyuki Tsujii's performance, at Mori Forest Hall 21.
It was already astonishing, considering that the sound came from someone with the handicap of blindness; watching his performance, that is no longer relevant.
But in the midst of it, something happened that I had never experienced before: no sound came out from the keyboard (!)
The entire performance was about 2 hours. He also gave two encores to overwhelming responses, playing freely and taking his time.
調律師が登場して対応中(笑)↓
A piano technician came on stage (LOL)
![]()
例えばこれをドライバー目線で考えてみると、古い話ですが、1984年のモナコ、1993年のドニントンで魅せたアイルトン・セナのウエットレースに近い感覚ですかね。 トップに位置するマシンではないのに、実力だけで次々オーバーテイクして行くシーンと重なる気がしました。
今年も色々ありましたが、悪い事は帳消しにしてもらったような、何か少しだけ得した気分に浸りながら帰宅しました。
Thinking about the incident from the perspective of a race-car driver: I wonder if this is something like the incidents of 1984 in Monaco or 1993 in Donington. Although the equipment is different, I felt that the ability to overcome circumstances is [similar in each case].
So much has happened this year, but [hopefully] bad things would be cancelled out [in the end], I got home immersed in a little [positive] mood.
--------------辻井伸行
おはようございます。
昨夜、辻井伸行の演奏を聴く機会に恵まれ、松戸にある、森のホール21へ。
音源はいくつか持っていて、やはり盲目というハンデキャップを考えると既に衝撃的ですが、生で観るとそれはもう関係なく、途中、ある鍵盤から音が出なくなる(!)という本人も初めての経験だというハプニングもありましたが、約2時間、2度のアンコールにも応えてくれて、ひたすら圧倒的な表現力と緩急自在なプレイを堪能しました。
December 21, 2016
Nobuyuki Tsujii
Last night, I had the opportunity to listen to Nobuyuki Tsujii's performance, at Mori Forest Hall 21.
It was already astonishing, considering that the sound came from someone with the handicap of blindness; watching his performance, that is no longer relevant.
But in the midst of it, something happened that I had never experienced before: no sound came out from the keyboard (!)
The entire performance was about 2 hours. He also gave two encores to overwhelming responses, playing freely and taking his time.
調律師が登場して対応中(笑)↓
A piano technician came on stage (LOL)
例えばこれをドライバー目線で考えてみると、古い話ですが、1984年のモナコ、1993年のドニントンで魅せたアイルトン・セナのウエットレースに近い感覚ですかね。 トップに位置するマシンではないのに、実力だけで次々オーバーテイクして行くシーンと重なる気がしました。
今年も色々ありましたが、悪い事は帳消しにしてもらったような、何か少しだけ得した気分に浸りながら帰宅しました。
Thinking about the incident from the perspective of a race-car driver: I wonder if this is something like the incidents of 1984 in Monaco or 1993 in Donington. Although the equipment is different, I felt that the ability to overcome circumstances is [similar in each case].
So much has happened this year, but [hopefully] bad things would be cancelled out [in the end], I got home immersed in a little [positive] mood.
Last week, Nobuyuki Tsujii launched a 20-performance Bach/Mozart/Beethoven recital tour in Japan that will go on through March 2017 (with two interruptions on the calendar). Last night, he was in Chiba for his third performance on the tour, when, according to postings on Twitter, Nobu had to abruptly abandon his performance of Mozart's Sonata No. 17 in the midst of the third movement.
Following are some of the tweets that came up:
モーツァルトの途中でピアノ壊れた\(^^)/
The piano broke in the middle of Mozart
![]()
[The accompanying photo shows a technician repairing the "broken" piano as audience looked on.]
辻井さんモーツァルトピアノソナタ第17番第3楽章で思わぬハプニング、ピアノの音がでない。20分の休憩！ なんということ❗️（；＿；）Mr. Tsujii Mozart Piano Sonata No. 17 Third movement, unexpected happening: the piano was broken. A 20-minute break! What do you mean!（；＿；）
辻井伸行日本ツアー 松戸森のホール行ってきましたが…ハプニングがあって、モーツァルトのソナタの第3楽章で演奏止めて「鳴らない音があるので演奏出来ないので一旦はけます」とそのまま休憩に。休憩後はベートーヴェンのソナタを演奏してアンコールでモーツァルトの第3楽章を再度演奏してくれた。 I went to Matsudo Mori Hall for Nobuyuki Tsujii Japan Tour. Something happened. He stopped playing in the third movement of Mozart's Sonata and said, "Since there is a sound that does not come out, I cannot play on," and the recital was interrupted. After the intermission he played Beethoven's sonatas, and played Mozart's third movement again with encores. -tweet by Yuki
森のホールで辻井伸行さんのコンサート。演奏中に突然ピアノが壊れて出ない音あるのでって停止。おどけてみせ一気に和やかな雰囲気に。テレビで見る好印象そのものでした。アンコールはそのトラブル曲とロックフェラーの天使の羽、ショパン革命。強弱ある短い打鍵を多用するパートが心地良かったです。 A concert by Nobuyuki Tsujii at the Hall of the Forest. Suddenly the piano broke and he stopped because there was a sound that did not come out while playing. It was funny but I felt at ease at the unusual occurrence. I had a good impression of him from TV. Encores were the song that caused trouble [Mozart's sonata #17], Angel's Wings and Chopin Revolution. The parts of strong and weak short strokes were particularly well done.
今日の辻井伸行さん、途中で「出ない音があるので…」って演奏中断になっちゃって舞台上でピアノお直し→休憩前倒しになったんだけど。最後に、こんな事は初めてでどうしようかと思いました！なんてトーク聞けたし再演奏もしてくれたし素晴らしかった‼︎です Today, Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii announced that "Because there is a sound that does not come out ..." He stopped playing and the piano was repaired on stage → The intermission was ahead of schedule. This was the first time that I saw this happen! It was amazing that he played it again and we were able to listen again!
それまでは、ホントにいい響きでさ。あのポンコツスタインウェイを念入りに調整された感満載だったのに、本当に残念。アンコールで3楽章だけまた弾いて下さったよ😄辻井さんのバッハとモーツァルト、すごく良かった！コンサートで弾くのは今回初めてらしいよ。Until then, it sounded really good. It was a pity; I felt the Steinway was meticulously tuned. He played only the 3rd movement with encores. The Bach and Mozart of Mr. Tsujii were really good! It seems he was playing them for the first time in concert.
![]()
[The accompanying photo shows a sign posted by the concert management apologizing for the disruption in the first half of the concert, along with a list of the encores. The 3rd movement of the Mozart sonata is listed first.]
それでも、あのスタインウェイでも素晴らしい音色だった♥ベートーヴェンも素晴らしかった。バッハはバッハらしく、モーツァルトはモーツァルトらしく、ベートーヴェンはベートーヴェンらしかったし、バッハはユリアンナの時みたいにチェンバロの音色がしたよ。Still, it was a wonderful tone on that Steinway ♥ Beethoven was also wonderful. Bach was like Bach, Mozart was like Mozart, Beethoven was like Beethoven, and Bach had a harpsichord tone.
辻井さんにとって初披露の曲で、とんだハプニング❗️舞台でピアノを分解、修理する騒ぎ。無事になおりコンサートは終了しました。もちろん、観客を大切にする彼のこと、最後に弾いてくれました。ミューズが舞い降りたかのような奇蹟のソナタ、魅了されました。♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑) It happened in the first half of Mr. Tsujii's concert. The piano was disassembled on stage and repaired. The concert was nevertheless finished successfully. Of course the audience really appreciated it. The sonata was finished at the end; it was a miracle as if Muse had descended.
https://twitter.com/May55Urutora/status/811212388250750976
辻井さんのコンサートへ🎹 モーツァルトの演奏中、音が出なくなるハプニングがあり、辻井さん『ピアノも12月で疲れてしまったのでしょう』と、人柄が伝わる気遣いあるコメント🎵 初出勤で疲れましたがよかったです！Mr. Tsujii's concert. During the performance of Mozart, something happened and the sound did not come out. Mr. Tsujii said, "The pianos also get tired in December." His personality comes across in his careful remarks. I was initially tired from work, but I was glad to have been there.
The piano broke in the middle of Mozart
[The accompanying photo shows a technician repairing the "broken" piano as audience looked on.]
辻井さんモーツァルトピアノソナタ第17番第3楽章で思わぬハプニング、ピアノの音がでない。20分の休憩！ なんということ❗️（；＿；）Mr. Tsujii Mozart Piano Sonata No. 17 Third movement, unexpected happening: the piano was broken. A 20-minute break! What do you mean!（；＿；）
辻井伸行日本ツアー 松戸森のホール行ってきましたが…ハプニングがあって、モーツァルトのソナタの第3楽章で演奏止めて「鳴らない音があるので演奏出来ないので一旦はけます」とそのまま休憩に。休憩後はベートーヴェンのソナタを演奏してアンコールでモーツァルトの第3楽章を再度演奏してくれた。 I went to Matsudo Mori Hall for Nobuyuki Tsujii Japan Tour. Something happened. He stopped playing in the third movement of Mozart's Sonata and said, "Since there is a sound that does not come out, I cannot play on," and the recital was interrupted. After the intermission he played Beethoven's sonatas, and played Mozart's third movement again with encores. -tweet by Yuki
森のホールで辻井伸行さんのコンサート。演奏中に突然ピアノが壊れて出ない音あるのでって停止。おどけてみせ一気に和やかな雰囲気に。テレビで見る好印象そのものでした。アンコールはそのトラブル曲とロックフェラーの天使の羽、ショパン革命。強弱ある短い打鍵を多用するパートが心地良かったです。 A concert by Nobuyuki Tsujii at the Hall of the Forest. Suddenly the piano broke and he stopped because there was a sound that did not come out while playing. It was funny but I felt at ease at the unusual occurrence. I had a good impression of him from TV. Encores were the song that caused trouble [Mozart's sonata #17], Angel's Wings and Chopin Revolution. The parts of strong and weak short strokes were particularly well done.
今日の辻井伸行さん、途中で「出ない音があるので…」って演奏中断になっちゃって舞台上でピアノお直し→休憩前倒しになったんだけど。最後に、こんな事は初めてでどうしようかと思いました！なんてトーク聞けたし再演奏もしてくれたし素晴らしかった‼︎です Today, Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii announced that "Because there is a sound that does not come out ..." He stopped playing and the piano was repaired on stage → The intermission was ahead of schedule. This was the first time that I saw this happen! It was amazing that he played it again and we were able to listen again!
それまでは、ホントにいい響きでさ。あのポンコツスタインウェイを念入りに調整された感満載だったのに、本当に残念。アンコールで3楽章だけまた弾いて下さったよ😄辻井さんのバッハとモーツァルト、すごく良かった！コンサートで弾くのは今回初めてらしいよ。Until then, it sounded really good. It was a pity; I felt the Steinway was meticulously tuned. He played only the 3rd movement with encores. The Bach and Mozart of Mr. Tsujii were really good! It seems he was playing them for the first time in concert.
[The accompanying photo shows a sign posted by the concert management apologizing for the disruption in the first half of the concert, along with a list of the encores. The 3rd movement of the Mozart sonata is listed first.]
それでも、あのスタインウェイでも素晴らしい音色だった♥ベートーヴェンも素晴らしかった。バッハはバッハらしく、モーツァルトはモーツァルトらしく、ベートーヴェンはベートーヴェンらしかったし、バッハはユリアンナの時みたいにチェンバロの音色がしたよ。Still, it was a wonderful tone on that Steinway ♥ Beethoven was also wonderful. Bach was like Bach, Mozart was like Mozart, Beethoven was like Beethoven, and Bach had a harpsichord tone.
辻井さんにとって初披露の曲で、とんだハプニング❗️舞台でピアノを分解、修理する騒ぎ。無事になおりコンサートは終了しました。もちろん、観客を大切にする彼のこと、最後に弾いてくれました。ミューズが舞い降りたかのような奇蹟のソナタ、魅了されました。♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑) It happened in the first half of Mr. Tsujii's concert. The piano was disassembled on stage and repaired. The concert was nevertheless finished successfully. Of course the audience really appreciated it. The sonata was finished at the end; it was a miracle as if Muse had descended.
https://twitter.com/May55Urutora/status/811212388250750976
辻井さんのコンサートへ🎹 モーツァルトの演奏中、音が出なくなるハプニングがあり、辻井さん『ピアノも12月で疲れてしまったのでしょう』と、人柄が伝わる気遣いあるコメント🎵 初出勤で疲れましたがよかったです！Mr. Tsujii's concert. During the performance of Mozart, something happened and the sound did not come out. Mr. Tsujii said, "The pianos also get tired in December." His personality comes across in his careful remarks. I was initially tired from work, but I was glad to have been there.
Instrument malfunction at a concert -- it happens. A string, or a hammer, might have snapped.
It's not the first time that such things happened to Nobu. In 2013, Nobu toured Japan with Yutaka Sado and the BBC Philharmonic. During one performance, the piano started to move because it was not properly locked down. According to tweets, the BBC Phil concertmaster, a big admirer of Nobu, leaped up without hesitation to come to the rescue of Nobu.
I did a search on the web. It seems piano malfunction in mid-performance is extremely rare. But it does happen.
It happened to rocker Axl Rose when at a Guns N' Roses Show earlier this year.
And it happened to pianist Yuja Wang in a May 2014 performance with the San Francisco Symphony Orchcestra. According to a concert review:
"A piano string breaking during a concert is an extremely rare occurrence, but the sold-out auditorium of Davies Symphony Hall witnessed just that, last Friday evening at the San Francisco Symphony.
Midway through her performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 10, pianist Yuja Wang reached into the innards of the Steinway, pulled up the loose end of a broken string, and tried to tuck it into a spot where it wouldn’t resonate awkwardly with the other strings.
The temporary fix allowed Wang to make it to the end of the concerto, but the broken string had also broken her concentration — and the audience’s.
Wang was clearly ‘not pleased’ as she hastily moved off stage, her high heels getting caught in the lacy fabric of her midriff-baring maxi-length outfit, while conductor Michael Tilson Thomas announced an early intermission.
Hitting a piano key hard enough to break a string seems quite impossible, but the percussive exuberance of Prokofiev’s concerto, plus Yuja Wang’s vigorous and aggressive playing style may have pushed an already weakened string to the point of failing.
![]()
"Attempting to repair the piano" Photo by Niels Swinkels
Midway through her performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 10, pianist Yuja Wang reached into the innards of the Steinway, pulled up the loose end of a broken string, and tried to tuck it into a spot where it wouldn’t resonate awkwardly with the other strings.
The temporary fix allowed Wang to make it to the end of the concerto, but the broken string had also broken her concentration — and the audience’s.
Wang was clearly ‘not pleased’ as she hastily moved off stage, her high heels getting caught in the lacy fabric of her midriff-baring maxi-length outfit, while conductor Michael Tilson Thomas announced an early intermission.
Hitting a piano key hard enough to break a string seems quite impossible, but the percussive exuberance of Prokofiev’s concerto, plus Yuja Wang’s vigorous and aggressive playing style may have pushed an already weakened string to the point of failing.
"Attempting to repair the piano" Photo by Niels Swinkels
In the book"The Virtuoso Liszt" (Dana Gooley, p . 108), it is said that "Liszt's tendency to break piano strings and keys in performance ... motivated him to keep two pianos on stage." It has been written elsewhere that Liszt's adoring women fans fought each other for his broken piano strings.
These things happen. Imagine the pressure felt by the poor piano technician who had to perform the repair on stage. The Japanese has a saying: 仕方が無いshikata ga nai ("It cannot be helped") -- that applies to such situation. Nobu is not a heavy hitter on the piano. Let's hope that this incident may just be a one-time quirk. In any case, it sounds like Nobu handled the crisis with admirable aplomb, although I do wonder what would happen if something like that comes up when Nobu performs in Europe, as he is scheduled to do in February -- he would not be able to speak to the audience ...
