Nobuyuki Tsujii: Live at Carnegie Hall [Blu-ray]

A celebration of the human spirit and the power of music
I was at the Carnegie Hall debut of Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii on November 10, 2011. The popularity of Tsujii in Japan was (and still is) such that no less than three Japanese TV crews were on hand for that occasion, and the presence of cameras was seemingly everywhere in the concert hall that night.

This video does not have the drama of Peter Rosen's acclaimed video "A Surprise in Texas", the documentary for the 2009 Van Cliburn International Competition, which propelled Nobu to international stardom. Just the same, it is a lovingly made tribute to the unique musical talent and indomitable spirit of Nobuyuki Tsujii.

Because I had heard Tsujii play the other works at previous concerts, the most interesting parts of the Carnegie Hall performance, to me, were the opening piece and the encores.

The recital started with John Musto's daunting "Improvisation and Fugue", performed with the composer in the audience that night. I cannot do better than...

Great performance!
This is outstanding performance !
I love his tender but passionate play.
How lucky I am to get this dvd!
I will keep watch his growth!

An astonishing debut Carnegie Hall recital providing a high 'wow' factor
This disc celebrates the Carnegie Hall debut of Nobuyuki Tsujii in 2011 following on from his joint gold award won earlier at the 2009 Van Cliburn competition. The presented program is wide-ranging in its demands both technically and musically. What makes this even more of an achievement for Tsujii is that he has been blind from birth and that consequently he has had to learn everything that he plays by ear. This combination of achievements is fully appreciated by the ecstatic audience to such an extent that Tsujii finds their response to be touchingly overwhelming as the film concludes back stage.

The recital starts with one of the test pieces from the van Cliburn competition, the Improvisation and Fugue by John Musto. This is a technically demanding piece requiring considerable digital dexterity but could not be described as exploring means of expression such as touch or lyricism or other means of expressing a player's sensitivity. The piece clearly establishes the `wow'...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Ring Without Words [Blu-ray]

A most enjoyable Ring Without Words perfect for non-purists especially!
Lorin Maazel considered requests to create a synthesis of Wagner's Ring cycle as a continuous `Ring without Words' twice before finally agreeing to the request made by the recording company, Telarc, in 1987. The resultant 75 minute recording proved to be a big seller and in Maazel's opinion it helped to create a new audience for the operas.

In creating this continuous synthesis Maazel attempted to produce a reduced version which followed strict chronological order and which introduced all the main themes and motifs without adding a single note not written by Wagner. In this he reinforced Wieland Wagner's view (Wagner's Grandson) that the essence of the work lies in the orchestral score.

Weiland Wagner's view is worth considering in this context and can be quoted as stated to Maazel at a rehearsal of the Ring as `The orchestra, that's where it all is - the text behind the text, the universal subconscious that binds Wagner's personae one to another and to the...

Melodic Synopsis of the Ring Soars
Whenever a great work is summarized, or truncated, the serious reader or listener is skeptical. The Ring in its glorious 16 hour stretch is a feast for the converted, but often is too much for a beginner trying to grapple with a large and complex cultural monument. The Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Lorin Maazel plays direct quotes from the Ring that are lifted from the orchestral score of the four operas in the order in which Wagner composed them. The result is a highly organic presentation of the major leitmotifs and important orchestral interludes of the Ring. As such it is an important achievement which will help in promoting The Ring and winning for it a new generation of admirers.

I appreciate the fact that Maazel in stitching the excerpts together did not alter anything that Wagner wrote, nor did he add any superfluous material.

The result is a compelling sonic introduction to the musical building blocks of The Ring. I would have added...

Ravishingly beautiful
Wagner's Ring "without words" is not a novel concept: Stokowski and some of his fellow-conductors have performed orchestral "syntheses" of Wagner operas, especially during the 1960s and later. There is nothing sacrilegious about orchestral excerpts from operas, though some critics have sneered at the so-called "bleeding chunks". Orchestral excerpts and syntheses will particularly please those who, for one reason or another, have trouble sitting through these endless operas - especially when they are celebrated on consecrated ground in Bayreuth. Maazel and the Berliner Philharmoniker (in huge complement) have recorded this performance in 2000 in the Berlin Philharmonie in excellent video and audio. It is a 78-minute tour de force, for the then 70-year old conductor as well as for the musicians who follow him on the beat and who often have to play grueling long fffs or harmonically challenging passages. In brief: they all work a small miracle, and the performance turns out to be...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Dances & Dreams [Blu-ray]

Exquisite pianism and orchestral work
The title here refers to the six "lollipops" (dances)and the Grieg Piano Concerto (dreams). They are all executed beautifully by the always excellent Berlin Phil. directed by Sir Simon Rattle - Evgeny Kissin is the soloist in the Grieg.

It's not often that I pick up a disc with this many items on it that I enjoy in its entirety, but this is definitely the case here. I've heard many renditions of these pieces where the conductor treated them as throwaways in a "pops" concert, obviously with little enthusiasm or preparation. Rattle and his band have clearly accorded the care and attention to detail that these little masterpieces deserve. I am constantly astonished at the immaculate phrasing and touches of rubato dashed off with seemingly little effort by these players. Rattle deserves accolades for his intelligent and sensitive conducting, too - and he's not a conductor I'm unreservedly fond of.

So we have two Dvorak Slavonic dances, a Brahms Hungarian dance,a...

A most enjoyable New Year's Eve concert with Kissin, Rattle and the BPO on top form
This 2011 New Year's Eve concert from Berlin is a markedly up-to-speed occasion with attractively brisk tempi apparent right from the opening Slavonic Dance and mostly maintained to the last item - another Slavonic Dance by Dvorak. This energetic approach to the music making is much appreciated by the enthusiastic audience and applies to most of the concert, the exceptions being the Grieg Piano Concerto and the conclusion to the Firebird extracts.

The Grieg concerto, as played by Evgeny Kissin, is in marked contrast to the alternative visual recordings currently available from Gulsin Onay and Julia Fischer who both deliver more robust performances with less emphasis upon interpretive subtlety. This is understandable in both cases as Gulsin Onay is accompanied by an orchestra that lacks the potential for subtle interplay and phrasing that is the lifeblood of the BPO. Julia Fischer's performance, on the other hand, aims for, and delivers, the kind of youthful `joie de vivre'...

A most enjoyable New Year's Eve concert with Kissin, Rattle and the BPO on top form
This 2011 New Year's Eve concert from Berlin is a markedly up-to-speed occasion with attractively brisk tempi apparent right from the opening Slavonic Dance and mostly maintained to the last item - another Slavonic Dance by Dvorak. This energetic approach to the music making is much appreciated by the enthusiastic audience and applies to most of the concert, the exceptions being the Grieg Piano Concerto and the conclusion to the Firebird extracts.

The Grieg concerto, as played by Evgeny Kissin, is in marked contrast to the alternative visual recordings currently available from Gulsin Onay and Julia Fischer who both deliver more robust performances with less emphasis upon interpretive subtlety. This is understandable in both cases as Gulsin Onay is accompanied by an orchestra that lacks the potential for subtle interplay and phrasing that is the lifeblood of the BPO. Julia Fischer's performance, on the other hand, aims for, and delivers, the kind of youthful `joie de vivre'...

Click to Editorial Reviews