Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 / Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 Nobuyuki Tsujii, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko

• Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907): Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16:
• 1 Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16: I. Allegro molto moderato 12:58
• 2 Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16: II. Adagio 06:14
• 3 Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16: III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato 10:05
• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943): Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43:
• 4 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Introduction. Allegro vivace 00:07
• 5 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 1. Precedente 00:19
• 6 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Theme 00:19
• 7 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 2. L'istesso tempo 00:19
• 8 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 3. L'istesso tempo 00:26
• 9 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 4. Più vivo 00:30
• 10 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 5. Tempo precedente 00:30
• 11 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 6. L'istesso tempo 01:06
• 12 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 7. Meno mosso, a tempo moderato 01:08
• 13 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 8. Tempo I 00:35
• 14 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 9. L'istesso tempo 00:33
• 15 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 10. [Poco marcato] 00:53
• 16 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 11. Moderato 01:21
• 17 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 12. Tempo di minuetto 01:21
• 18 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 13. Allegro 00:29
• 19 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 14. L'istesso tempo 00:44
• 20 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 15. Più vivo scherzando 01:10
• 21 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 16. Allegretto 01:42
• 22 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 17. [Allegretto] 02:18
• 23 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 18. Andante cantabile "The 18th Variation" 02:51
• 24 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 19. A tempo vivace 00:33
• 25 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 20. Un poco più vivo 00:38
• 26 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 21. Un poco più vivo 00:27
• 27 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 22. Un poco più vivo (alla breve) 01:44
• 28 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 23. L'istesso tempo 00:53
• 29 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 24. A tempo un poco meno mosso 01:23
• Total Runtime 53:36

Info for Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 / Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

This recording includes the Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Variations on a theme of Paganini under Vasily Petrenko with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

Described by The Observer as the “definition of virtuosity,” Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii (Nobu), blind from birth, won the joint Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009 and has since earned an international reputation for the passion and excitement he brings to his live performances. Nobu has appeared with leading orchestras worldwide, including the Mariinsky Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and NHK Symphony, under the baton of renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Vasily Petrenko.

Nobu has performed recitals at major venues across North America, including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, and regularly appears at prestigious European venues like Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Royal Albert Hall in London, Berlin Philharmonie, and Musikverein in Vienna. Highlights of his 2018/19 season include returns to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Ashkenazy, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under Gergiev, and a tour of the US East Coast and Asia with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He also debuts in the International Piano Series at Southbank Centre in London and performs at the Rostropovich Festival and various German venues.

Nobuyuki Tsujii, piano
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Nobuyuki Tsujii
The intense energy generated by Nobuyuki Tsujii in performance is electrifying. The Japanese pianist, universally known as Nobu, channels his phenomenal technical skills and command of tonal colours to craft interpretations that reveal the essence of the works in his wide repertoire. Stemming from a profound spiritual connection with the music and a rare ability to be as one with his instrument, his artistry appears all the more remarkable given that he was born blind.

Nobu created headline news in 2009 when he was declared joint winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition’s coveted Gold Medal. His pianism prompted the contest’s founder to declare that he was “absolutely miraculous”. Nobu’s performance, he continued, had “the power of a healing service. It was truly divine.”

That verdict was soon endorsed by audiences and critics drawn to hear the young man’s debuts on the world’s most prestigious stages, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and the main auditorium of Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. Nobu also became the subject of a documentary directed by the eminent film-maker Peter Rosen: Touching the Sound: The Improbable Journey of Nobuyuki Tsujii (2014), having already featured prominently in the director’s film about the 13th Van Cliburn Competition, A Surprise in Texas (2010).

Having long since established his place among today’s leading pianists, Nobu signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon in April 2024. The label plans to reissue the artist’s existing classical discography, and subscribers to its STAGE+ platform can now watch two recitals filmed earlier this year – one from Suntory Hall, the other from the Verbier Festival – as well as Rosen’s Touching the Sound.

Nobu’s debut DG album features a Beethoven programme that pairs the towering “Hammerklavier” Sonata, op. 106 with Liszt’s transcription of the song cycle An die ferne Geliebte (“To the Distant Beloved”). The album is set for release digitally – and on CD in Japan – on 29 November 2024, while the CD will be released worldwide on 21 March 2025.

In recent seasons Nobu has appeared as concerto soloist with, among others, Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic, and Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Other career highlights include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the BBC Philharmonic and Juanjo Mena, and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg and Kent Nagano.

Forthcoming highlights include a tour of Australia during which he will perform Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto and a recital programme of Beethoven, Liszt, Ravel and Kapustin (18 October−9 November); three performances in Honolulu, Hawaii (14, 16 & 17 November); and a recital tour of Japan featuring solo works by Debussy, Prokofiev and Beethoven (1–20 December). He begins 2025 with performances of the Grieg Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in Fukuoka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Osaka and Nagoya (19–26 January).

Born in Tokyo in September 1988, Nobu displayed his innate musicality at the age of two when he began picking out tunes on a tiny toy piano. After just a few hearings he was able to play the songs his mother sang to him, and he began improvising miniature compositions spontaneously during early childhood. “The piano is something I can use to express myself, and I’m much better at communicating using piano rather than speech,” he reflects. “So in that sense, the piano is essential for me.”

Nobu’s phenomenal aural skills and memory enabled him to learn increasingly complex pieces by listening to short sections and repeating them at the piano his parents bought for him. His progress was such that he won first prize at the All Japan Music Competition of Blind Students at the age of seven and, three years later, made his debut with orchestra. He gave his first piano recital, in the small hall of Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, when he was twelve and soon reached audiences overseas with recital tours to the United States, Russia and France. He also began performing his own compositions.

Two years after reaching the semifinal of the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2005, Nobu enrolled at Tokyo’s Ueno Gakuen University and made his professional debut. He achieved pop-star status in Japan thanks to his Cliburn Competition victory and remains enormously popular in his homeland, as well as having a huge and ever-growing fanbase abroad. “I always aim to play for audiences to enjoy,” he says. “To me, my responsibility is the audience’s enjoyment.”

This album contains no booklet.