LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

The Japanese pianist and recent DG signing Nobuyuki Tsujii announces his intensely awaited upcoming debut album on DG. He has chosen Beethoven’s formidable Hammerklavier Sonata, renowned for its dual technical und intellectual challenges, combined with the lyricism of Liszt’s affectionate transcription of Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (“To the Distant Beloved”). 

Nobuyuki, who learns every score by heart on account of his blindness, commented on the daunting nature of the Hammerklavier: “It’s such a long work that it’s very difficult to maintain your concentration. I spent a lot of time preparing for the recording … making the music my own. … The more you play it, the more deeply you feel it. There are aspects of Beethoven’s experience that overlap with my own – he lost his hearing but still wrote wonderful, and very difficult, pieces like this sonata. So I worked on it with great respect.” 

Listen to a first pre-release track, the first song Auf dem Hügel sitz ich, spähend from Beethoven’s song cycle An die ferne Geliebte, as arranged by Liszt. The full album will be released digitally on 29 November and is now available for pre-order.