붓꽃 독백 - 위대한 영혼

Iceland Symphony Orchestra LIVE @ Harpa 

PROGRAM
1. Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson - Gletscherlied
2. Sergei Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2 / 12:32
3. Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 2 / 1:22:11

Nobuyuki Tsujii - Piano

Vladimir Ashkenazy - Conductor

Iceland Symphony Orchestra

In November 2018, the ISO will embark on a three-week tour of Japan. It will be the orchestra’s first concert tour in Asia and the biggest trip the ISO has taken since 2000. In all, the orchestra will play 12 concerts, including performances in Osaka, Nagoya, and Hiroshima and two concerts in Tokyo. The conductor will be Vladimir Ashkenazy, who has been enormously popular in Japan for decades.

The piano soloist, Nobu, is also a big star in his home country. Nobu has been blind from birth but recognises no barriers, learning the most difficult works in the piano literature by ear. A gold medallist in the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, he has appeared in all of the world’s leading concert halls, and the DVD recording of his 2012 concert in Carnegie Hall was named DVD of the Month by Gramophone Magazine.

This concert, a sort of warm-up for the Japan tour, features the programme the ISO will perform there. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 2 is one of the most popular works of all time, lyrical and passionate, giving Japanese pianist Nobu unlimited opportunity to showcase his genius. Sibelius’ Symphony no. 2, another masterpiece — one that the composer called “a confession of the soul” — catapulted him to classical music stardom. Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson wrote Gletcherlied in 1998 at Ashkenazy’s request. It will be performed on the ISO’s Japan tour to commemorate the composer, who would have turned 80 this year.

" Miracle Pianist" Nobuyuki Tsujii

--Background--
Tsujii was born blind but was gifted with a talent for music. At the age of 2, he began to play Jingle Bells on a toy piano after his mother had been humming the tune. He began his formal study of piano at the age of 4.
In 1998, at age 10, he debuted with The Century Orchestra Osaka. In April 2007, he entered Ueno Gakuen University.
He has made his debut overseas including performances in the United States and Russia. His commercial recordings are available in Japan, but are not available in other countries as of June 2009.
He competed in the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and tied for the gold medal with Haochen Zhang. He was also awarded the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work. He played all twelve of Frédéric Chopin's Op. 10 Études as part of his performance in the preliminaries.

--Comments on Tsujii--
Van Cliburn is quoted as saying, "Miracle is the only word to describe him. This is truly the act of God."
Juror Richard Dyer said, "Very seldom do I close my notebook and just give myself over to it, and he made that necessary. I didn't want to be interrupted in what I was hearing