Happy 2015, Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii!

image via Internet link

It is 9 PM, December 30 here in California.  But in Japan it is already December 31, the eve of New Year, the biggest holiday in Japan.  2015 is just around the corner. All over Japan, people are celebrating: crowds at temples and shrines; parties at homes and restaurants. I hope Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii too is having a good time.

Looking back at 2014, I can hardly believe that I saw Nobu in person as much as I did, in three different countries and on two different continents.

The year started with a bang. In January Nobu came to the U.S., on a tour with New York based Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.


I bought tickets for the Carnegie Hall concert back in 2013. Little did I know the pleasure that was awaiting me in snowy New York City in January. I was invited to attend the premiere screening of "Touching the Sound" by Peter Rosen, as well as a reception for Nobu hosted by the consulate general of Japan.
 
Nobu and mother Itsuko at the premiere screening of "Touching the Sound"

Before I even arrived in New York, Nobu gave a recital at the Green Space hosted by WQXR radio.  The well-received performance was streamed live and was also available on demand. The Carnegie Hall performance of Beethoven's "Emperor" was as thrilling as I had expected. I will never forget the ebullient Nobu that I had the good fortune of seeing after the performance.
 
Nobu, backstage at the Carnegie Hall after his "Emperor" performance

In February, Nobu toured with the Orpheus in Japan, 2014. In severe winter weather, they made 10 performances over 11 days, in 7 cities and at 8 venues. The performances were declared sold out at all but a few stops, and the Japanese audience response was enthusiastic.  Even now, we can look forward to listening to a CD 皇帝＆戴冠式 辻井伸行＆オルフェウス室内管弦楽団 Emperor & Coronation --Nobuyuki Tsujii & Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to be released On January 21 2015. The tracks are recordings of Nobu performing "Emperor" and Mozart's "Coronation" with the Orpheus while they were in Japan.

Still in February, Nobu resumed the last 9 stops of his sold-out 19-stop Chopin & Liszt recital tour in Japan.  Then, on March 10, Nobu playedProkofiev Piano Concerto # 3 with Conductor Valery Gergiev and the Filarmonica della Scala at renowned Teatro la Scala, Milan, Italy. Tickets were sold out and Nobu so astonished the audience that an article in the Italian publication Archipelago Milano called him a "monstrum", a Latin word for "an unnatural portent".   I have the assurance of an Italian Nobu fan that the article is positive about Nobu.

In the month of April, Nobu returned to the U.S.A., where he performed a recital in Clearwater, Florida, and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra.  Nobu and his manager enjoyed a warm welcome in Mobile, and the orchestra seems to remember Nobu fondly.  The orchestra posted a generous photo album (50 photos, about 10 with Nobu) on their Facebook page as well as YouTube videos of Nobu's performances. 

Spring brought Nobu to Europe, where he made his France debut at a recital in the Louvre on April 17, 2014. The performance was shown on Medici-TV. In May, there were concerts in Switzerland (Baden, Basel) and Germany (Stuttgart, Dusseldorf). A TV-crew accompanied Nobu on his Switzerland journey, and an excellent documentary 「辻井伸行×スイス紀行」～ラフマニノフが愛した国を訪ねて "Tsujii Nobuyuki Switzerland Journey" has been shown in Japan twice, most recently on December 26. On May 7 & 8, Nobu gave stunning performances of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Sinfonieorchester Basel & Conductor Kaspar Zehnder at sold-outStadt Casino Musiksaal(1,508 capacity) in Basel, Switzerland.
I chose to attend Nobu's two May recitals in Germany in Stuttgart and Dusseldorf , and saw for myself the enthusiastic audiences applauding Nobu's performances deserving of this positive review that Nobu received.  I had a grand time in Germany and hope to return to see Nobu perform in Berlin some day soon.

Yours Truly with Nobu and concert organizer backstage in Stuttgart

Nobu spent his summer in Japan.On Saturday May 31, 2014, Nobu appeared in the closing ceremony of Tokyo's National Stadium, performing to a crowd of 50,000 at the Tokyo National Stadium closing ceremony"Fanfare for Tokyo Olympic" and Chopin's Heroic Polonaise.

On June 6, Nobu participated in the Olympic concert 2014" in Tokyo. Let's hope these public appearances bode well for Nobu to be on the roaster of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics ceremonies.

In July, Nobu toured Japan again, performing Ravel/Chopin "Premier Recitals"at reknowned venues at 9 stops. The recital program includes Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit -- said to send fears to the hearts of pianists --  and Chopin's Ballade No. 4, two extremely challenging works. And although I sweated at the thought, Nobu had no trouble with Gaspard, reaching yet another mountain top with his usual aplomb.

Nobu would repeat the Ravel/Chopin recital in Taipei on July 26, 2014. At the end of the summer, he joined three fellow Japanese pianists/composers to perform at the second PIANIST Festival organized by his record label, Avex Classics. Although frowned upon by classical purists, the "festival" was a great commercial success, selling out all its stops.

As summer turned to fall, Nobu played Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa on September 10, 11, and 12. I so hope to hear him play this concerto some day.

Nobu's Fall 2014 Europe Tour could not come soon enough for me. For almost a full year, I had been eagerly looking forward to Nobu's debut performance of Rachmaninov's piano concerto No. 3, considered by some the most technically challenging piano concerto.  I had made arrangements months ahead to see him perform it, for the first time ever, in Liverpool, U.K., with conductor Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. As it turned out, Nobu would first perform the work with his long-time mentor Yutaka Sado and his faithful friends of the BBC Philharmonic. The performance in Manchester did not receive any critic's review, but by all accounts it was a rousing success and a moving performance. We can still look forward to the broadcast of the concert on BBC3 Radio in February (as we have been told).
 
Standing ovation for Nobu in the Bridgewater Hall on October 31, image via Internet link

The Manchester performance was followed by two recitals in Germany in Munich and Berlin. A very positive review for Nobu's Nov. 9 Munich recital appeared in Münchner Abendzeitung (The Munich Evening News). English translation by me can be found here

I flew to U.K. for Nobu's two concerts in Liverpool and, as always, was richly rewarded (please see My time in Liverpool, U.K. 2014). The first performance, on November 20, was Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 performed to a nearly full Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (1,693 seats). The second performance, on November 23, Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3, was completely sold out.
Yours Truly with Nobu, backstage in Liverpool, U.K.

Nobu wound up the year with three sold-out  performances of  "PIANIST Premium Xmas" concerts in Tokyo.

What can I say?  How lucky am I to get to see Nobu perform live five times in one year, and seeing him backstage so many times?  I am too spoiled. And so addicted.  I only hope that my luck never runs out.

I would be remiss if I do not mention an excellent CD that came out in September: "Nobuyuki Tsujii plays Liszt", most of the tracks of which were recorded while Nobu was in Europe in May. I am seriously addicted to some of the tracks on that CD, which received two highly favorable reviews in the November issue of Japan's Record Geijutsu レコード芸術 (Recording Arts) Magazine.

I am thankful for the excellent TV documentaries about Nobu that I had the pleasure of viewing, including a Asahi-TV 2014 New Year special and the Switzerland journey documentary aired on Fuji-TV in June.  And this year's highly-anticipated Asahi-TV New Year special, to feature footage from Liverpool, will be seen in Japan very soon.

Headline photo posted with BS-Asahi announcement of New Year Nobu special

And so 2015 is upon us. With it comes new hopes and dreams.  Among the known Nobu engagements that I look forward to are:

• Japan Tours with Vasily Petrenko in January
• Chopin/Liszt/Beethoven Japan recital tour in February and March
• A recital on May 1 in Sonoma, California, U.S.A. (I have ticket to this!)
• Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestrain May in Canada
• 3 concerts with Yutaka Sado and the Orchestra Tonkünstler in Austria in May; performing  Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 at Musikverein(Vienna's "Golden Hall") and the St. Pölten Festrival Playhouse
• In November: Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor") with Valery Gergiev and Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, a Tokai TV 2015-6 Super Classic Concert

And there should be more delights to be revealed to us as the new year unfolds. I only hope that Nobu will live up to his promise as a global pianist and perform more outside Japan.  I also hope that Nobu will keep up with his fitness regime and stay healthy and fit as he has been in 2014!

In any case,2014 has been another fabulous year for Nobu and this crazy fan of his. Here is hoping for a even better 2015.  あけましておめでとう! 喝采, Mr. Tsujii!

image via Internet link