Nobu: A bright spot in a topsy-turvy world

クリスマスなので天使( 辻井くん )のコンサートに行ってきた。心の綺麗な人の指からは綺麗な音が生まれる。心が洗われた。[Since it is Christmas, I went to a concert by an angel (Tsujii-kun).   A beautiful sound is born from the fingers of a beautiful person.My heart was washed.]  -Dec 25 tweet

"Bitte, liebe Berliner Philharmoniker: diesen Pianisten müsst Ihr einladen!  [Please, dear Berlin Philharmonic: You must invite this pianist!] - March 3 concert review posted by Cultural Radio Germany

"A revelation: Pianist and composer Nobuyuki Tsujii.""Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii made Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto a revelation by playing exactly what the composer wrote – every nuance and shade of dynamic – with the greatest sensitivity to balance and expressive purpose." -December 25 Sydney Morning Herald "Year in Review"
2016 started with Nobu's All-Chopin Recital Japan Tour, sold out at every stop (17) as usual.  Nobu also performed this recital in London in March -- I was fortunate to be among the audience in Wigmore Hall
In February, Nobu played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 with conductor Sylvain Cambreling& the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, one of the three acclaimed performances was aired on Japan TV (see here); a sound recording of the performance is now among my prized collection.
Still in February, Nobu went on an "Ultimate Concertos" Japan tour with violinist Miura Fumiaki.  I initially took a dim view of this tour, thinking that it's little more than a promotional gimmick.  But I should have known better. Nobu has the Midas touch -- especially in Japan -- and this one struck gold.  He and young Mr. Miura proved to make a good team, and the tour was a roaring success.
In March, just a day after the conclusion of the "Ultimate Concertos" Japan tour and when Europe was still in the grips of winter, Nobu launched a tour with the Dresden Philharmonic in Germany, performing  Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 under the baton of conductor Michael Sanderling.  The resounding success astonished even me!
October found me in Sydney to witness Nobu's Australia debut with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO). The Sydney performances were a roaring success: three sold-out concerts that earned enthusiastic responses from the audiences and rave reviews from the critics. Nobu has already been invited back to perform with the orchestra again next year and he was cited as "a revelation" in Sydney Morning Herald's "Year in Review".

BEST CDs
Two excellent albums came out this year: Liszt: Piano Sonata, Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit in July & Chopin:Etudes & Ballades in November.  Outstanding sound quality in tasteful packaging, these are cherished additions to my growing library of Nobu CDs.


MEMORABLE PHOTOS
In April, Nobu traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to make a surprise performance of Beethoven's "Emperor" at the Mariinsky Theatre concert hall with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, apparently at the invitation of conductor Valery Gergiev (who was in London at the same time as Nobu).  Even more delightful is that  Professor Masahiro Kawakami, Nobu's long-time piano teacher, joined him in St. Petersburg. The photo below, from the blog of Mr. Kawakami, is of him, his wife and Nobu at the home of Mr. Gergiev at a dinner party hosted by the indefatigable conductor.
In September, there was  a reception at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo at which Nobu's father made a rare public appearance. The photo below, of the family with Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, was posted by proud mother Itsuko on her blog.

Another photo showed up on the facebook page of calligraphy artist Shoko Kanazawa,who was also a guest at the event for the anniversary of the American Disability Act.
In Sydney, I got this precious photo of Nobu holding a toy koala that I plucked from the Tarongo Zoo.
And, just yesterday, this jovial photo was posted to Twitter by violinist Fumiaki Miura, Nobu's buddy and fellow Avex artist, after Mr. Miura showed up in a surprise appearance at Nobu's Christmas Day recital in Yamagata Prefecture. The audience was said to have gone wild.

POPULAR TV APPEARANCES 
"Untitled Concert" -- Valentine's Day 2016


TV show "Manma's Pike" on Sept 3 2016
"Tetsuko's Room" 9/20/2016

In November there was a live performance with violinist Miura at the NHK "Morning" show (for which they had to show up at a TV studio at 5:30AM)
And coming up: Three Consecutive Days of New-Year TV Specials, including a brand new one on New Year Day with footage of Nobu's Australia debut.

As I write, Nobu is at the start of a 20-performance Bach/Mozart/Beethoven Recital Tour in Japan.   There was an incident at the third performance: The piano broke in the middle of Mozart.
An eyewitnesswrote about the incident, expressing admiration for Nobu's aplomb in handling the situation:

Those words struck a chord. This year ended inauspiciously for my country.  I am frankly uneasy about the road ahead of us.  I turn to Nobu's music all the more for solace. 

Shine on, Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii!   More than ever,  this world needs bright lights like yours.  May peace and justice prevail in 2017, and may the new year bring more great things from Nobu-kun.