posted by M. L. Liu, the Unofficial Website for International Fans of Nobuyuki Tsujii
This page will be updated from time to time throughout December 2014.
Latest update: December 4, 2014
The business of concert pianists is fiercely competitive, given the small market and the abundant supply of virtuoso pianists. Very little is known about the business of concert pianists. This is one in an ongoing series of monthly articles that I keep to record my findings of how Nobu is doing compared with some other concert pianists, in terms of concert promotion and ticket sales.
Related article: The Business of Concert Pianists November 2014
♪ Dec 4
Yours Truly was in U.K. last month to catch two concerts of Nobuyuki Tsujii in Liverpool, Nov 20 & 23. Both concerts were well attended, the second one a sold-out. But it was the first one that garnered many critic's reviews, perhaps because it was held on a weekday, with a world premiere of a concerto. The comments on Nobu's performance of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 were overwhelmingly positive, but, lamentably, it was his Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 that I (and Nobu's management) had hoped to attract attention. As it was, Nobu's two performances of Rach 3 in U.K., a superhuman achievement, did not attract the attention of major critics.
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These performances will be continued in Japan, when Nobu tours with Vasily Petrenko in 2015. But before that, Nobu will make three performances titled The PIANIST Premium 2014 Xmas in Japan, on December 15, 16, 18. These three performances of crossover music (disdained by classical music purists) with three other Japanese artists have sold out, perhaps thanks to the airing last month in Japan of a 2-hour TV documentary about the PIANIST festival held in August. This in spite of the relative hefty ticket prices for these shows (up to 18000 Y, about 180 USD).
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Meanwhile, the 8 performances of the 2015 Japan tour withVasily Petrenko have yet to completely sell out. The Osaka stop, for example, has plenty of the highest-priced tickets still available. Partly it is because the program there features the Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, which is only half as long as the Rach 3, and partly because of the high price tag (up to 21,000 Y). Hosting a big-name conductor (Petrenko) and an orchestra (Liverpool Phil) with 100+ members is a BIG operation. I have it on good authority that the high ticket price is necessary to cover the costs, especially with the current exchange rate between yens and pounds.
Having seen the performances in U.K., I can say that this conductor's musicality is outstanding, and his synergy with the orchestra and Nobu impressive. In Liverpool, Petrenko has a loyal following and, in the eyes of the locals, he is regarded as the "star" for the performances that I attended, but in Japan it is Nobu who headlines the tour.
At the U.K. performance of Rach 3 there was a Japan film crew on hand, and I suspect the footage will be shown in a New Year Day special to air in Japan on Asahi-TV. Let's hope all eight performances on the Japan tour will become sold out after that.
Meanwhile, tickets are already coming on sale for Nobu's next Chopin/Beethoven recital tour ("Appasionata") in March in Japan. Tickets for Gifu and Osaka came on sale first, while I was still in U.K., and they were sold out by the time I returned home. Selling out in Gifu is quite an accomplishment for a classical music event, it seems. Osaka was sold out, but has now added standing-room tickets for 3,000Y each, which are still available. This tour seems to target the general public in Japan. The ticket prices (3000Y to 6800 Y) are modest, and there are no Tokyo stops.
Yuja Wang too has been performing on the West Coast, including a performance in San Francisco and just last night in Seattle. Her publicity is image-intensive and so on Twitter there are photos aplenty posted after each performance for all to see. Seattle Symphony posted this breathless tweet: "YujaWang played no less than THREE encores: Clara Schumann--El Contrabandista, Horowitz--Carmen Variations, Art Tatum--Tea for Two". I don't recall such star-struck tweets coming from the orchestra after the recent performances of Nobu (in 2013), Zhang (2014) and Daniil Trifonov (2014).
Deniil Trifonov will give another recital on Dec 9 at the Carnegie, his third in as many consecutive years. This performance too is all but sold out (as most performances sponsored by the Carnegie are, perhaps due to its loyal subscribers). Trifonov's recitals did not fill seats in U.K. this fall, but the Carnegie Hall crowd seem partial to him (and Wang, both Deutsch Gramophon artists). The classical music bloggers are already falling all over themselves touting the performance, and I predict another glowing review from the New York Times. This recital will be streamed live by the Carnegie Hall.
Lang Lang: His new Mozart album did make the U.K. classical chart but is sinking fast. Mozart albums are a tough sell because his works are performed and recorded to death. I must mention that I happened to catch the airing of a Rach 3 performance by Mr. Lang on Classical KUSC radio soon after I returned from U.K., and, without knowing who was playing, I thought -- in my humble opinion -- the performance was inferior to that of Nobu's that I heard in Liverpool. This publicity-grubbing man performed in Amsterdam on Dec 1 and then in Taipei on Dec 2 with the indefatigable Valery Gergiev. Mr. Lang has established a Foundation in his own name, ostensibly a laudable philanthropic effort but also seemingly a machine for his image promotion. Can you say Narcissus?
TO BE CONTINUED
This page will be updated from time to time throughout December 2014.
Latest update: December 4, 2014
The business of concert pianists is fiercely competitive, given the small market and the abundant supply of virtuoso pianists. Very little is known about the business of concert pianists. This is one in an ongoing series of monthly articles that I keep to record my findings of how Nobu is doing compared with some other concert pianists, in terms of concert promotion and ticket sales.
Related article: The Business of Concert Pianists November 2014
♪ Dec 4
Yours Truly was in U.K. last month to catch two concerts of Nobuyuki Tsujii in Liverpool, Nov 20 & 23. Both concerts were well attended, the second one a sold-out. But it was the first one that garnered many critic's reviews, perhaps because it was held on a weekday, with a world premiere of a concerto. The comments on Nobu's performance of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 were overwhelmingly positive, but, lamentably, it was his Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 that I (and Nobu's management) had hoped to attract attention. As it was, Nobu's two performances of Rach 3 in U.K., a superhuman achievement, did not attract the attention of major critics.
Nobu performed Rach 3 with Vasily Petrenko & the Liverpool Phil; image via Internet link
These performances will be continued in Japan, when Nobu tours with Vasily Petrenko in 2015. But before that, Nobu will make three performances titled The PIANIST Premium 2014 Xmas in Japan, on December 15, 16, 18. These three performances of crossover music (disdained by classical music purists) with three other Japanese artists have sold out, perhaps thanks to the airing last month in Japan of a 2-hour TV documentary about the PIANIST festival held in August. This in spite of the relative hefty ticket prices for these shows (up to 18000 Y, about 180 USD).
Meanwhile, the 8 performances of the 2015 Japan tour withVasily Petrenko have yet to completely sell out. The Osaka stop, for example, has plenty of the highest-priced tickets still available. Partly it is because the program there features the Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, which is only half as long as the Rach 3, and partly because of the high price tag (up to 21,000 Y). Hosting a big-name conductor (Petrenko) and an orchestra (Liverpool Phil) with 100+ members is a BIG operation. I have it on good authority that the high ticket price is necessary to cover the costs, especially with the current exchange rate between yens and pounds.
Having seen the performances in U.K., I can say that this conductor's musicality is outstanding, and his synergy with the orchestra and Nobu impressive. In Liverpool, Petrenko has a loyal following and, in the eyes of the locals, he is regarded as the "star" for the performances that I attended, but in Japan it is Nobu who headlines the tour.
At the U.K. performance of Rach 3 there was a Japan film crew on hand, and I suspect the footage will be shown in a New Year Day special to air in Japan on Asahi-TV. Let's hope all eight performances on the Japan tour will become sold out after that.
Meanwhile, tickets are already coming on sale for Nobu's next Chopin/Beethoven recital tour ("Appasionata") in March in Japan. Tickets for Gifu and Osaka came on sale first, while I was still in U.K., and they were sold out by the time I returned home. Selling out in Gifu is quite an accomplishment for a classical music event, it seems. Osaka was sold out, but has now added standing-room tickets for 3,000Y each, which are still available. This tour seems to target the general public in Japan. The ticket prices (3000Y to 6800 Y) are modest, and there are no Tokyo stops.
OTHERS
Haochen Zhang performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 on Nov. 13-15 at the Seagerstrom Concert Hall in Orange County, California, and -- as to be expected -- received a positive review from a local critic. Zhang played La Campanella for encore, which the critic wrote: "played with a precision and clarity that allowed all the notes (there are a lot of them) to be heard distinctly."Yuja Wang too has been performing on the West Coast, including a performance in San Francisco and just last night in Seattle. Her publicity is image-intensive and so on Twitter there are photos aplenty posted after each performance for all to see. Seattle Symphony posted this breathless tweet: "YujaWang played no less than THREE encores: Clara Schumann--El Contrabandista, Horowitz--Carmen Variations, Art Tatum--Tea for Two". I don't recall such star-struck tweets coming from the orchestra after the recent performances of Nobu (in 2013), Zhang (2014) and Daniil Trifonov (2014).
Deniil Trifonov will give another recital on Dec 9 at the Carnegie, his third in as many consecutive years. This performance too is all but sold out (as most performances sponsored by the Carnegie are, perhaps due to its loyal subscribers). Trifonov's recitals did not fill seats in U.K. this fall, but the Carnegie Hall crowd seem partial to him (and Wang, both Deutsch Gramophon artists). The classical music bloggers are already falling all over themselves touting the performance, and I predict another glowing review from the New York Times. This recital will be streamed live by the Carnegie Hall.
Lang Lang: His new Mozart album did make the U.K. classical chart but is sinking fast. Mozart albums are a tough sell because his works are performed and recorded to death. I must mention that I happened to catch the airing of a Rach 3 performance by Mr. Lang on Classical KUSC radio soon after I returned from U.K., and, without knowing who was playing, I thought -- in my humble opinion -- the performance was inferior to that of Nobu's that I heard in Liverpool. This publicity-grubbing man performed in Amsterdam on Dec 1 and then in Taipei on Dec 2 with the indefatigable Valery Gergiev. Mr. Lang has established a Foundation in his own name, ostensibly a laudable philanthropic effort but also seemingly a machine for his image promotion. Can you say Narcissus?
TO BE CONTINUED