Nobuyuki Tsujii, Piano
Those who purchase stage seats must pick them up from the Carnegie Hall Box Office (57th Street and Seventh Avenue) on the day of the concert between 11 AM and 7 PM, unless the tickets have been saved on a mobile device. Since there is no late seating, ticket holders should plan to arrive one hour before the concert is scheduled to begin. At 7 PM, Carnegie Hall staff will direct ticket holders to form a queue. While a ticket guarantees onstage seating, the exact location is determined on a first-come, first-served basis. We do not allow standing at your seat anywhere in the venue.
Though there is no dress code at Carnegie Hall, patrons who are seated onstage are asked to avoid bright clothing and noisy jewelry, and refrain from using heavy perfume. Given the limited space, large bags and flowers are not permitted onstage.
Performers
Nobuyuki Tsujii, Piano
Program
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53, "Waldstein"
LISZT "En rêve"
LISZT Mephisto Waltz, No. 1
CHOPIN Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 1
CHOPIN Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2
CHOPIN Piano Sonata No. 3
Encores:
BEETHOVEN Adagio cantabile from Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, "Pathétique"
CHOPIN Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12, "Revolutionary"
FOSTER "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" (arr. Nobuyuki Tsujii)
LISZT "La campanella" in G-sharp Major from Grandes Études de Paganini
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately 100 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission.Listen to Selected Works
At a Glance
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53, “Waldstein”
The “Waldstein” Sonata, named for one of Beethoven’s noble patrons, followed hard on the heels of the “Eroica” Symphony; both works exemplify the boldly heroic style of the composer’s so-called middle period. Heeding a friend’s advice, Beethoven published the sonata’s original slow movement separately as the “Andante favori” and replaced it with a brief Adagio molto that ties the fast movements together in a decidedly unconventional fashion.
LISZT “En rêve,” S. 207; Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke), S. 514
Liszt’s vast catalog includes some 1,000 works in many genres, but he’s best known for his dazzlingly virtuosic and often richly poetic piano music. In the last years of his life, the poetic ardor and grand romantic gestures of his early works gave way to a more introspective tone, as illustrated by the short, dreamy nocturne “En rêve.” The much earlier Mephisto Waltz No. 1 takes its theme from the Faust legend as retold by Nikolaus Lenau. It was originally composed for orchestra as the second of the Two Episodes from Lenau’s Faust, titled “The Dance in the Village Inn.” Liszt’s no-holds-barred keyboard transcription, dedicated to his pupil Carl Tausig, has long been a favorite virtuoso showpiece.
CHOPIN Two Nocturnes, Op. 27; Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58
In the 1830s and ’40s, Chopin revolutionized piano writing in a large body of nocturnes, waltzes, mazurkas, and other solo pieces that imbued the brilliance of the salon style with unprecedented poetic depth. Robert Schumann, himself a master of character pieces, extolled Chopin’s accomplishment, in which, he wrote, “imagination and technique share dominion side by side.” Schumann likened Chopin’s playing to the sound of an Aeolian harp, as illustrated by the two Op. 27 Nocturnes of 1835. It was arguably the unparalleled range and subtlety of Chopin’s pianism that enabled him to cast off the shackles of musical convention so successfully in works such as the great Sonata in B Minor.