Nobuyuki Tsujii

Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 21, Waldstein 
Liszt En rêve
Liszt Mephisto Waltz No. 1 
Chopin Nocturne No. 7 
Chopin Nocturne No. 8 
Chopin Piano Sonata No. 3

The young Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, who has been blind from birth, is ‘one of the most unique classical pianists performing today’ (Classical Voice), as you’ll hear in music by three giants of the piano.

Beethoven’s virtuosic Waldstein Sonata is fierce and fiery, Liszt’s First Mephisto Waltz a helter-skelter dance with the devil. Two lyrical Nocturnes by Chopin complement the tortured grandeur of his Third Piano Sonata, like a coiled spring that bursts into vibrant life.

Did you know?

Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata is named after a close friend and patron and is an early example of his ‘Heroic’ decade.

Liszt attracted a devoted and enthusiastic following, prompting the poet Heinrich Heine to describe it as ‘Lisztomania’. 

Chopin was not the begetter of the piano nocturne, that honour belongs to the Irish composer John Field. 

Listen out for…

The Waldstein’s opening chords that prompted an alternative title, L’Aurora (The Dawn).

The ethereal coda of its finale with a trilling piano and glissando octaves in both hands moving in opposite directions.

The bone-china delicacy of Liszt’s En rêve and the daring harmonies and demonic intensity of his first Mephisto Waltz. 

The cascade of ideas that begin Chopin’s Sonata, its feather-light Scherzo, majestic Largo, and relentless virtuosity of its finale.

Presented by NCH