Nobuyuki Tsujii - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2, Liszt: Piano Pieces (2011)

Pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii tackles the war horse non pareil, the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor by Sergey Rachmaninov, along with a handful of keyboard favorites by Franz Liszt, to make this album a showpiece for Romantic piano fans. Ably supported by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, under the direction of Yutaka Sado, Tsujii turns in a credible performance of the concerto that is full of pianistic fireworks and long-breathed melodies, and the 2008 performance was warmly recorded by Teldex Studio Berlin. The recordings of Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3, the Mephisto Waltz No. 1, and the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 were made in 2007 at Salamanca Hall in Japan and have a closer recital hall sound that feels about as warm as the concerto but more intimate, presumably due to the microphone placement and the acoustics. Tsujii obviously has the necessary skills in this literature, and his admirers will likely be satisfied with these virtuosic vehicles. But his tried and true program makes no demands of the listener and presents no challenges in material; it is uncontroversial and predictable, what many young, ambitious pianists might choose. When Tsujii performs pieces beyond the standard piano hits, it will be interesting to hear what he can accomplish. While this album shows his undeniable technical prowess, it leaves his aesthetics unexamined.