Deutsche Grammophon Signs Japanese Pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii

Berlin, 23 April 2024. Deutsche Grammophon is delighted to announce the signing of an exclusive agreement with Nobuyuki Tsujii, universally known as Nobu. The 35-year-old’s DG debut album, set for release at the beginning of 2025, will include Beethoven’s Sonata No. 29 in B flat major Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”, which is among the most complex and demanding works in the piano repertoire. Deutsche Grammophon also plans to reissue and promote the pianist’s extensive existing classical discography (recorded for his former label, Avex Classics International) in both digital and physical formats.

To mark the new relationship, the label will present the STAGE+ premiere of Nobuyuki Tsujii plays Bach, Chopin and Rachmaninoff on 18 May. The recital, which opens with Bach’s French Suite No. 5 in G major BWV 816 and includes Chopin’s Four Impromptus and Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise and Moments Musicaux Op. 16, was filmed live in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall at the end of February.

“It is a great pleasure to welcome Nobu to the Yellow Label,” comments Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon. “I was captivated when I heard him perform in London last year. He’s a truly exciting musician, blessed with rare musical inventiveness and insight, which may also stem from the fact that he perceives the world differently. His playing goes straight to the heart, propelled by his phenomenal technique and the uncanny richness of sound he draws from the piano. We want to bring Nobu’s remarkable artistry to a new global audience and work closely with him and his management team to ensure his international career continues to flourish.”

Nobu looks forward to recording repertoire landmarks for DG and developing new projects in the coming years. “Deutsche Grammophon has released many iconic recordings by great pianists such as Martha Argerich and Maurizio Pollini, and I have been listening to its CDs since I was a child,” he reflects. “I am very proud to sign with this prestigious label that has been a leader in classical music. I am also very happy that more and more people around the world will be able to hear my performances through future releases and streamings.”

Taka Kidokoro, Nobu’s executive producer at the Yellow Label and Director Business Development Asia, DG, believes the pianist is poised to move and inspire audiences worldwide. “Since winning the Van Cliburn Competition, Nobu has become hugely popular in Japan. I’m sure he will now continue to develop his international career, because he has an unmistakable magic which has a profound effect on all who hear him play.”

Blind from birth, Nobu spontaneously began playing tunes on a toy piano at the age of two. He made rapid progress after his mother invested in a real instrument and began taking lessons at four. His profound connection to music took root and developed during childhood, underpinned by his need to learn every piece by ear and enhanced by his work as a composer. He made his recital debut at Suntory Hall when he was twelve, appeared overseas soon after and reached the semifinals of the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2005.

Nobu attracted international acclaim and pop star status at home in 2009 when he became joint winner of the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Over the past fifteen years, he has given recitals at the world’s leading venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall and Royal Albert Hall, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and the Berlin Philharmonie. He 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, and  Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic.