I hope this finds you well and enjoying the summertime. I’m excited to share with you some highlights from my projects these past few months.
My summer began with a Japanese tour which was very enthusiastically received. For my recital at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, I got a great review from Japan’s leading music magazine, Ongaku no Tomo (“Friends of Music”):
“The selection of pieces by Namoradze, himself a composer, was intriguing… His etudes are brilliantly composed, and I was fascinated by how he incorporated typical elements of etudes with harmonic transformation. The recital program was nicely selected, as if one travels from the Romantic to Impressionism to the modern period… Listening with much interest and pleasure, I was impressed by his technique and wide range of expression… It was a recital full of delight and mysteries, which ended almost like a reincarnation.”—Hiroko Ueda, Ongaku no Tomo
Following the success of these concerts, I’ll be joining IMC Music Management for representation in Japan. I can hardly wait for my next performances there!
Soon after the tour in Japan I gave a sold-out recital in Essen, Germany at the world’s largest piano event, the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, for which I received another glowing review:
“Nicolas Namoradze sparkled on the piano… The spotless performance earned great applause… The grand ovation led to four encores that brought the concert to a close by transporting the mood into one of romantic lyricism.”—Peter Noçon, Werdener Nachrichten
After a few more concerts—including a performance at the grand opening of the new Tanglewood Learning Institute, a great honor—I was off to the UK to record a solo disc for Hyperion. It was wonderful to spend a few days at Wyastone Estate, recording at their excellent concert hall. Stay tuned for news about the upcoming release!
On the subject of disc releases, you can now get my new album on the Honens Label on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and IDAGIO.
It’s been almost a year since my win at Honens, and what a year it’s been! I have so much to look forward to in the upcoming season with concerts around the world. Next up are performances in Canada at Banff and the Honens Festival, before I’m off to Milwaukee to join the amazing Ken-David Masur in his three inaugural concerts as Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; it is an enormous privilege to be part of such a momentous occasion! Please stay updated on the rest of my upcoming concerts with my new website, and I hope our paths cross during my travels.
Kind regards,
Nicolas
Soundbite: Nicolas Namoradze’s “Moon, Refracted”
For my recitals in Japan I wrote a little piece—a kind of reflection on a well-known Japanese song, “Kojo No Tsuki” (“Moon over the Ruined Castle”) by Rentaro Taki—to play as an encore. The piece is called “Moon, Refracted”, and it is set in a theme-and-variation form, first plainly presenting Taki’s melody before my own variation. It’s a sparse, meditative work in which I try to capture both the special atmosphere of this song as well as something of the concept of “wabi-sabi” in Japanese aesthetics. Here is a video of the piece from my recital at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan.
Interview: “The New Age Thinking Virtuoso”
For my recitals in Japan I wrote a little piece—a kind of reflection on a well-known Japanese song, “Kojo No Tsuki” (“Moon over the Ruined Castle”) by Rentaro Taki—to play as an encore. The piece is called “Moon, Refracted”, and it is set in a theme-and-variation form, first plainly presenting Taki’s melody before my own variation. It’s a sparse, meditative work in which I try to capture both the special atmosphere of this song as well as something of the concept of “wabi-sabi” in Japanese aesthetics. Here is a video of the piece from my recital at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan.