Leon Fleisher
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Leon Fleisher (born July 23, 1928) is a Jewish-born, American pianist and conductor.
He was born in San Francisco, California, where he started studying the piano at age 4. He made his public debut at age 8 and played with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Monteux at 16. He studied with Artur Schnabel.
He made a memorable series of recordings with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra before losing the use of his right hand due to focal dystonia. He continued performing the left-handed repertoire until he quite recently regained the use of his right hand through the injection of botox. He also undertook conducting during this time. He is particularly well-known for his interpretations of the piano concerti of Brahms and Beethoven. In 2004, Vanguard Classics released Leon Fleisher's first "two-handed" recording in over 40 years, appropriately titled "Two Hands," to critical acclaim.
He has continued to be involved in music, both conducting and teaching at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music. As a teacher, Fleisher has carried on a tradition that descends directly from Beethoven himself, handed down generationally through Carl Czerny, Theodor Leschititsky, Artur Schnabel, Fleisher himself, and then to hundreds of Fleisher's own piano students over nearly half a century. His influence on classical pianists of the current day, especially in North America, is enormous. Some notable pianists who were students of Leon Fleisher include Andre Watts, Emilio del Rosario, Louis Lortie, Daniel Wnukowski, Jonathan Biss, Yael Weiss, Xak Bjerken, Stephen Prutsman, Stewart Goodyear, Jane Coop, Phillip Bush, Brian Ganz, Enrique Graf, Marian Hahn, Reiko Uchida, Stephane Lemelin and Reynaldo Reyes.
External links
- [International Creative Management]
- http://www.americancomposers.org/bios20010318.htm
- http://www.wpr.org/book/051211a.html Program contains an interview with Leon Fleisher.
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