Nobuyuki Tsujii in recital: Grieg, Chopin, Debussy, Tchaikovsky

Since his 2009 victory at the prestigious Van Cliburn Piano Competition, piano sensation Nobu (Nobuyuki Tsujii) has been captivating audiences all over the world with his powerfully expressive, note-perfect performances. This poetic program is one of the most anticipated highlights of the 2026 Verbier Festival!

Although they appear relatively simple at first glance, Grieg’s Pièces Lyriques require a delicacy of touch and phrasing that the Japanese pianist masters perfectly. Blind from birth, Nobu commits all of his pieces to memory by listening to them in small extracts recorded especially for him — a staggering feat which requires a keen ear and acute artistic sensitivity. These skills are especially apparent in his beautiful renditions of Chopin’s melancholic Nocturnes and Grande Polonaise brillante. Exquisite sonic tapestries by Debussy then come to life in Nobu’s capable hands: the dreamlike Rêverie, and what might just be the musical equivalent of a sun-dappled Monet painting, Images: Book I. To close, Nobu delights us with extracts from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker in a piano arrangement that evokes all the whims and fantasies of a child’s imagination, and some of ballet’s most recognisable melodies.