The following review of a recital of Nobuyuki Tsujii held on December 15 2019, was accessed on December 19, at the following link:
https://www.meesterpianisten.nl/blinde-virtuoos-tsujii-verbaast/
The original text, titled "Blinde virtuoos Tsujii verbaast, maar ontroert zelden" is in Dutch
An English translation can be read below.
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Tsujii made fewer mistakes than all seeing colleagues in this season's Master Pianists series together. It was also unusual and notable that a lot of extra seats had been placed on the stage of the bulging Concertgebouw. Perhaps this was due to the large Japanese contingent who had approached this debut. Nobuyuki Tsujii is therefore what you can rightly call 'a phenomenon'. In 2009, at the age of 20, along with seventeen-year-old Chinese Haochen Zhang[ nineteen-year-old], he won first prize at the Van Cliburn Competition and since then his career has run smoothly. Zhang stays behind, but he also doesn't have what makes Tsujii so unique. Tsujii has been blind since birth. You wonder how he studies all that virtuoso piano repertoire. Well, that is done with the help of assistants, who cut scores for him into small pieces, after which he learns them brick by brick.
In addition to his memory, his technique is also astonishing, as was shown last night after his interpretations of the four Ballades and four Scherzi by Chopin. He made fewer mistakes than all seeing colleagues in the Master Pianists series this season put together.
Tsujii took all the time to sit in the perfect position for him. He also wiped his forehead and then the keys with a cloth after each piece. An assistant was needed for his rise and fall.
After the initial unavoidable bewilderment at hearing and seeing Tsujii (crazy technique, full tone), a certain expressive uniformity started to stand out. The Scherzi came out better than the Ballades, but the problem was that he very rarely managed to uplift the surprise.
***
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https://www.meesterpianisten.nl/blinde-virtuoos-tsujii-verbaast/
The original text, titled "Blinde virtuoos Tsujii verbaast, maar ontroert zelden" is in Dutch
An English translation can be read below.
Blind virtuoso Tsujii surprises, but rarely stirs
by Erik Voermans , Het Parool, December 16, 2019Tsujii made fewer mistakes than all seeing colleagues in this season's Master Pianists series together. It was also unusual and notable that a lot of extra seats had been placed on the stage of the bulging Concertgebouw. Perhaps this was due to the large Japanese contingent who had approached this debut. Nobuyuki Tsujii is therefore what you can rightly call 'a phenomenon'. In 2009, at the age of 20, along with seventeen-year-old Chinese Haochen Zhang[ nineteen-year-old], he won first prize at the Van Cliburn Competition and since then his career has run smoothly. Zhang stays behind, but he also doesn't have what makes Tsujii so unique. Tsujii has been blind since birth. You wonder how he studies all that virtuoso piano repertoire. Well, that is done with the help of assistants, who cut scores for him into small pieces, after which he learns them brick by brick.
In addition to his memory, his technique is also astonishing, as was shown last night after his interpretations of the four Ballades and four Scherzi by Chopin. He made fewer mistakes than all seeing colleagues in the Master Pianists series this season put together.
Tsujii took all the time to sit in the perfect position for him. He also wiped his forehead and then the keys with a cloth after each piece. An assistant was needed for his rise and fall.
After the initial unavoidable bewilderment at hearing and seeing Tsujii (crazy technique, full tone), a certain expressive uniformity started to stand out. The Scherzi came out better than the Ballades, but the problem was that he very rarely managed to uplift the surprise.
***
RELATED ARTICLES
Nobuyuki Tsujii debuts at the Concertgebouw
Collection of Nobuyuki Tsujii critics' reviews