Nobuyuki Tsujii: The 2022 Verbier Recital

It was one of the highlights of the 2022 Verbier Festival, when Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii brought a stunning recital programme to the star-studded Alpine festival – a programme that demands not only supreme musicianship, but also breathtaking virtuosity, which Nobu, despite being blind since birth, delivers in spades. At the heart of it are two sonatas built around extreme contrasts: Beethoven's "Moonlight" and Chopin's Sonata No. 3. To these, the pianist adds further contrasting favourites ranging from the dreamy melodies of Liszt's Consolation No. 3 and Chopin's Barcarolle to the devilish technical demands of Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No. 1 and "Campanella" Etude, played as an encore to bring the house down.