One of the strongest pianists of the 20th century, Leon Fleisher has also contributed to the future of piano performance, having taught some of the upcoming generation of powerful performers: Hélène Grimaud and Sofya Gulyak are 2 of his former students.
Early Rise to Performance Career
His career got off to a promising start. Born in 1928 in San Francisco, Fleisher began keyboard lessons at age 4 and public performance at age 8. At 9, he began lessons with a German pianist who boasted a rather impressive heritage: Arthur Schnabel had studied under a student of Carl Czerny, who was in turn a student of Beethoven.
By 16, he played with the New York Philharmonic. When he later won the Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition in Belgium, he was the first American to secure that prize. However, by the age of 37, his career suddenly took a surprising turn with the onset of focal dystonia.
A Pianist's Battle with Focal Dystonia
Focal dystonia is a neurological disorder in which brain signals turn muscle on and "forget" to turn off, leading to twitches and spasms. With one hand out of control, Leon Fleisher was no longer able to maintain his performance career and turned instead to teaching and conducting.
He has taught at the distinguished Peabody Conservatory of Music, as well as at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. For 11 years (1986-1997), he served as Artistic Director of the Tanglewood Music Center near Boston.
Selected Recordings
Fleisher also turned to recording works written entirely for the left hand, such as Ravel's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in D Major; Prokofiev's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 In B-Flat Major, Op. 53; and Britten's Diversions for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 21. Another album, Piano Works for the Left Hand, features much shorter works such as a prelude, a set of etudes, a partita and a nocturne.
In recent years, improved neurological treatments have enabled Leon Fleisher to stage a comeback with both hands. To demonstrate his return to concert performance, in 2004, he released an album entitled fittingly Two Hands.
Released December 2007, his most recent recording The Essential Leon Fleisher features collaborations with the distinguished cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the Julliard String Quart and the Cleveland Orchestra.
For a (nearly) complete discography, please visit Great Conversations in Music.
Sources
"Biography of Leon Fleisher." Sept. 2007. Sony BMG.
"Leon Fleisher, piano." American Composer Orchestra.
"Leon Fleisher, pianist." Great Conversations in Music.
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