It cannot be a coincidence that lately I keep running into postings from Japan about Nobu's piano chops (ability).
Yesterday someone posted a question on Yahoo Japan's popular question-and-answer forum. It may well be a troll from one of the so called Kurota (classical music fanatics in Japan), but the responses are interesting nevertheless.
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q11169334986
Question:
辻井伸行さんは長年のクラシックファンから見てもすごいですか？
目が見えないというのを抜きにしても世界的に一流のピアニストでしょうか？
キーシンとかツィマーマンは動画を見てすごいと思いましたが彼らと並ぶほどですか？
Is Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii amazing from the perspective of a long time classic fan?
Even disregarding his blindness, is he a world-class top pianist?
I thought (Evgeny) Kissin or (Krystian) Zimerman was amazing when I watched their videos, but is he up to par with them?
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The question had gotten three responses by the time I came upon the page.
Answer 1:
キーシンさん46歳
ツィイマーマンさん61歳
辻井伸行さん29歳
これから世界で認められる演奏家になると思っています。
比べるなら同じ年代の方で質問しないと
辻井伸行と同じ年代で現在コンサートホールを
満員御礼に出来るピアニストは誰がいますか？
Kissin is 46-year-old; Zimerman is 61. Nobuyuki Tsujii is 29. I think he is becoming recognized in the world.
For a fair comparison, you should ask about pianists in the same age group.
For now, which pianist of the same age as Nobuyuki Tsujii can bring in the crowds to pack the concert halls?
Answer 2:
まだまだレベルは遠く及びません。ちなみに目が見えなくてもある程度ピアノが引ける人は余裕で弾けます。むしろ、素早い手の動きをいちいち目で見る方が不可能です。
むしろ賞賛されるべきは、その楽譜の暗記力です。
He is not quite there yet. By the way, even without being able to see, most people can play the piano to some extent. However, without sight it is impossible to quickly see the movements of your hands. Rather it is his memorizing power of the music score that is to be praised.
Answer 3:
残念ながら、キーシンやツィマーマンのような、世界的にトップクラスといわれるピアニストではありません。
そういうピアニストなら、世界的なメジャーレーベルからアルバムがリリースされた、ワールドワイドに売り出されます。
それに、盲目の演奏家はそれほど珍しくありません。鍵盤奏者ではオルガンの、ヘルムート・ヴァルヒャ等はバッハの最高権威として尊敬されていました。
Unfortunately, he is not a pianist that can be said to be the equal of global top players like Kissin and Zimerman.
If he were such a pianist, his albums would be released by a major global label and sold all over the world.
Besides, blind players are not so uncommon. Among keyboard players, for example, the organist Helmut Walcha was respected as the highest authority on Bach.
I posted the following (4th) response, which seems to have gotten deleted somehow (perhaps because of the English), but here it is:
RELATED ARTICLES
Nobuyuki Tsujii: not the first blind virtuoso (November 2013)
Yesterday someone posted a question on Yahoo Japan's popular question-and-answer forum. It may well be a troll from one of the so called Kurota (classical music fanatics in Japan), but the responses are interesting nevertheless.
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q11169334986
Question:
辻井伸行さんは長年のクラシックファンから見てもすごいですか？
目が見えないというのを抜きにしても世界的に一流のピアニストでしょうか？
キーシンとかツィマーマンは動画を見てすごいと思いましたが彼らと並ぶほどですか？
Is Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii amazing from the perspective of a long time classic fan?
Even disregarding his blindness, is he a world-class top pianist?
I thought (Evgeny) Kissin or (Krystian) Zimerman was amazing when I watched their videos, but is he up to par with them?
Nobuyuki Tsujii - photo source Boston Higashi School
The question had gotten three responses by the time I came upon the page.
Answer 1:
キーシンさん46歳
ツィイマーマンさん61歳
辻井伸行さん29歳
これから世界で認められる演奏家になると思っています。
比べるなら同じ年代の方で質問しないと
辻井伸行と同じ年代で現在コンサートホールを
満員御礼に出来るピアニストは誰がいますか？
Kissin is 46-year-old; Zimerman is 61. Nobuyuki Tsujii is 29. I think he is becoming recognized in the world.
For a fair comparison, you should ask about pianists in the same age group.
For now, which pianist of the same age as Nobuyuki Tsujii can bring in the crowds to pack the concert halls?
Answer 2:
まだまだレベルは遠く及びません。ちなみに目が見えなくてもある程度ピアノが引ける人は余裕で弾けます。むしろ、素早い手の動きをいちいち目で見る方が不可能です。
むしろ賞賛されるべきは、その楽譜の暗記力です。
He is not quite there yet. By the way, even without being able to see, most people can play the piano to some extent. However, without sight it is impossible to quickly see the movements of your hands. Rather it is his memorizing power of the music score that is to be praised.
Answer 3:
残念ながら、キーシンやツィマーマンのような、世界的にトップクラスといわれるピアニストではありません。
そういうピアニストなら、世界的なメジャーレーベルからアルバムがリリースされた、ワールドワイドに売り出されます。
それに、盲目の演奏家はそれほど珍しくありません。鍵盤奏者ではオルガンの、ヘルムート・ヴァルヒャ等はバッハの最高権威として尊敬されていました。
Unfortunately, he is not a pianist that can be said to be the equal of global top players like Kissin and Zimerman.
If he were such a pianist, his albums would be released by a major global label and sold all over the world.
Besides, blind players are not so uncommon. Among keyboard players, for example, the organist Helmut Walcha was respected as the highest authority on Bach.
I posted the following (4th) response, which seems to have gotten deleted somehow (perhaps because of the English), but here it is:
こんにちは。 アメリカから~ 私は辻井伸行くんのファンです。[Hello, I am a fan of Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii from America.] Please forgive me for not being able to write in Japanese.
I think the answers to this question are excellent, but regarding the last answer from rnhnc742さん, I feel compelled to speak up.
As jojiok_55さん [first respondent] says: 辻井くん ("Nobu") is much younger than Kissin and Zimerman; and, as such, it is not fair to compare their levels.
As for record labels, the "worldwide" labels such as Deutsche Gramophon and Decca no longer dominate the market. Nobu has special needs (his blindness and language barrier) that may have precluded him from signing with those labels, and I believe his recordings do reach all corners of the world -- take a look at CDJapan and Amazon, for example, and, for that matter: YouTube.
As for "盲目の演奏家はそれほど珍しくありません blind players are not so uncommon", that is true. And indeed Nobu is not the first blind classical pianist of note. Frenchman Bernard D'Ascoli, for example, is highly accomplished. But the existence of other accomplished blind keyboard artists in no way subtracts from the impressive achievements of Nobu. At his young age, Nobuyuki Tsujii has displayed a width and a depth of virtuosity unprecedented among blind classical pianists. Nobu seems to truly enjoy performing on stage, and he plays even the most demanding works such as Chopin's etudes and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with a beguiling effortlessness. His piano music has an exquisite sonority and his playing has a distinctive style. Nobuyuki Tsujii's virtuosity is irreproachable, regardless of his blindness. It just makes him even more remarkable.
Finally, music appreciation is entirely subjective. In my humble opinion, it is futile to compare the virtuosos. They are all different, and admirable. Let's just enjoy them while we can.
I think the answers to this question are excellent, but regarding the last answer from rnhnc742さん, I feel compelled to speak up.
As jojiok_55さん [first respondent] says: 辻井くん ("Nobu") is much younger than Kissin and Zimerman; and, as such, it is not fair to compare their levels.
As for record labels, the "worldwide" labels such as Deutsche Gramophon and Decca no longer dominate the market. Nobu has special needs (his blindness and language barrier) that may have precluded him from signing with those labels, and I believe his recordings do reach all corners of the world -- take a look at CDJapan and Amazon, for example, and, for that matter: YouTube.
As for "盲目の演奏家はそれほど珍しくありません blind players are not so uncommon", that is true. And indeed Nobu is not the first blind classical pianist of note. Frenchman Bernard D'Ascoli, for example, is highly accomplished. But the existence of other accomplished blind keyboard artists in no way subtracts from the impressive achievements of Nobu. At his young age, Nobuyuki Tsujii has displayed a width and a depth of virtuosity unprecedented among blind classical pianists. Nobu seems to truly enjoy performing on stage, and he plays even the most demanding works such as Chopin's etudes and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with a beguiling effortlessness. His piano music has an exquisite sonority and his playing has a distinctive style. Nobuyuki Tsujii's virtuosity is irreproachable, regardless of his blindness. It just makes him even more remarkable.
Finally, music appreciation is entirely subjective. In my humble opinion, it is futile to compare the virtuosos. They are all different, and admirable. Let's just enjoy them while we can.
RELATED ARTICLES
Nobuyuki Tsujii & the Kurotas(December 2016)
A kurota (?) came to Nobu's recital (December 2016)Nobuyuki Tsujii: not the first blind virtuoso (November 2013)