Hiroyuki Nakayama

Events, Game Music

Final Fantasy “Piano Opera” World Tour Coming this Fall

June 25, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | 1 Comment Share this

With the recent news about Final Fantasy 7 being remade, having a world tour celebrating its music is a pretty appropriate measure to take in get fans hyped for what’s to come.

“PIANO OPERA : music from FINAL FANTASY” is the official piano concert dedicated to the music of the video game series FINAL FANTASY. Supervised by original composer Nobuo Uematsu, the PIANO OPERA series comes live on stage in 12 countries, and for the first time outside of Japan. Relive the most beautiful and famous music of the series through the noble and majestic sound of a grand concert piano, focusing mostly on the popular FINAL FANTASY VI, VII, VIII and IX ! To enhance the experience, a never before seen in-concert video edit of game footage will be displayed on the giant screen along with the music, portraying all the most intense moments of action and emotion of the saga ! The concert will feature belobed songs such as Ami, The Man with a Machine Gun, Roses of May, Not Alone, Liberi Fatali, Melodies Of Life, Fight On!, Cosmo Canyon and Words Drowned by Fireworks among others. A brand new musical experience filled with emotions!

Press Release

The concert series itself will start in France this coming November, and make visits to London, Stockholm, Brussels, New York City and Los Angeles, just to name a few of the stops. Tickets are currently on sale on the tour’s website for these first six cities, and updates can be found on their Facebook page. In addition to the concert tour, the albums that the tour is based from are being sold together as a special edition with collector’s box for 49 Euros. ($54.92 American dollars)

So if you’re a Final Fantasy music fan and have wanted to get in on seeing Nobou Uematsu and Hiroyuki Nakayama playing some of the most iconic pieces in gaming history, this might be right up your alley.
Featured, Game Music, Reviews

Piano Opera: Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX (Review)

May 20, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this

Final Fantasy is a series that has always had a special place in my heart. Part of this is due to the memorable moments of gameplay that I’ve experienced throughout the years, but a big part of what has kept me coming back to the games is the excellent music. Nobuo Uematsu’s music in particular is some of the most memorable music in the franchise. When I first started getting into game music, his tunes were some of the first pieces that I attempted to learn at the piano. The creation of the Piano Collections albums and the later Piano Opera albums were something that I could enjoy both as a gamer and a pianist. After an almost two year hiatus, a brand new Piano Opera album has finally emerged.

Piano Opera: Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX is the third album in the Piano Opera series. Despite the name, there is no opera involved in these arrangements. The Piano Opera series focuses on arranging the music of the Final Fantasy games for solo piano. The previous two entries focused on the music from Final Fantasy I through VI. The first album featured music from Final Fantasy I, II, and III, while the second covered the music of Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI. For this third installment, Hiroyuki Nakayama returns as piano arranger and performer for the music of Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX. The pieces for this collection where selected by Uematsu himself, choosing only four entries from each game. What pieces made the final cut and how did Nakayama approach arranging these pieces for piano? Read on to find out. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Piano Opera: Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX Has Been Released!

May 13, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Piano Opera: Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX Has Been Released! Share this

It’s finally here! The third and long awaited installment of the Piano Opera: Final Fantasy albums has been unleashed to the world. As we reported a few months back, this newest album from Square Enix features piano arrangements by Hiroyuki Nakayama of the Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX soundtracks. Pieces featured on this arrange album include “Liberi Fatali,” from Final Fantasy VIII; “Rose of May,” from Final Fantasy IX; and “Those Who Fight Further,” from Final Fantasy VII.

Each album in this series has covered selections of music from three Final Fantasy games. The first of this album series focused on Final Fantasy I, II, and III, while the second entry contained selections from Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI. It should be noted that these piano arrangements are different from the previously released Piano Collections albums. Nakayama’s interpretations of Nobuo Uematsu’s music on these arrange albums are all completely new.

The Piano Opera: Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX album is currently available on iTunes. For those of you looking for a physical copy of the album, it is currently available on CD Japan. However, it appears that the first press versions of the physical disc, a version that usually comes with a special sleeve case, has already sold out. We will have a review for Piano Opera: Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX on Original Sound Version in the coming days. Be sure to check back for our full coverage of the album.
Game Music, Reviews

PIANO OPERA FINAL FANTASY I/II/III: It Finally Exists! (Review)

February 27, 2012 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

While we were ecstatic to hear that Square Enix had taken us up on the suggestion we made to them over two years ago to release a piano collections CD from the first three games, I think we were all a little confused as to the change in naming convention from ‘piano collections’ to ‘piano opera.’ Can’t Square Enix stick to ANY of their conventions?

In any case, the title aside, this is the piano collections CD that you always wanted from the first three games.

Hit the jump for our full review. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

New PiA-COMs Have Joined Your Party: PiA-COM II (Review)

July 6, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on New PiA-COMs Have Joined Your Party: PiA-COM II (Review) Share this

Yeah, it was almost a year ago that we let you know that Hiroyuki Nakayama and Masato Kouda were joining original ‘PiA-COMer’ Keita Egusa for the follow-up album. PiA-COM II features not only more performers, but more music from a more diverse set of games, and having been a fan of the first album, I couldn’t be more excited by this prospect.

So, how did this experiment pay off? Did the addition of new members affect the cohesiveness of the album, and did they pick music from games that you actually want to hear?

Find out the answers to all of this and more in our review after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

More “Groups” From Dog Ear Records: Meet the PiA-COMS

June 28, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on More “Groups” From Dog Ear Records: Meet the PiA-COMS Share this

We had a great time with the original PiA-COM album, but given that it was titled “PiA-COM I,” it seemed likely we’d be getting more PiA-COM goodness in the future. Well, the is approaching very soon. On November 25, 2010, Dog Ear Records will release PiA-COM II, a new compilation of classic game music tunes arranged and performed on the piano. There’s even an official website and blog dedicated to the project.

What makes this announcement even more special, however, is the fact that along with KALAYCILAR and PiA-COM veteran pianist Keita Egusa, performers Hiroyuki Nakayama and Masato Kouda will be forming a trio called the PiA-COMS. Some may remember Nakayama’s name from the Kingdom Hearts piano collections and from a number of Uematsu projects, including Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Guin Saga. Masato Kouda, on the other hand, is well known for his work on the Monster Hunter franchise as well as being a member of Square Enix’s Star Onions band. These additions should definitely make for an interesting PiA-COM II album.

What arranged tracks are you looking forward to hearing this time around? Are you excited that Nakayama and Kouda are joining the mix?

[via VGMdb]