Leon Fleisher

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Just heard this morning that the American pianist, conductor, and teacher Leon Fleisher passed away at age 92 after a battle with cancer.  He died yesterday, August 2, 2020.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/02/arts/music/leon-fleisher-dead.html

Very sad to hear that.

PD

[pjme]

https://www.youtube.com/v/lTTPcYMWCRY

An excellent disc.
RIP mr. Fleisher.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

https://www.youtube.com/v/lTTPcYMWCRY

An excellent disc.
RIP mr. Fleisher.

Thank you for that link.  I'll listen to it later.     Just curious as to the lack of replies around here, are there not many fans of Mr. Fleisher?  Is he very well known outside of the US? His story is quite something...from losing the use of his right hand (from what I understand, due to over practice), working then on left-hand pieces of music (plus pursuing new avenues/careers related to music) to finding ways to get back the use of his right hand.  https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/05/leon-fleisher-theres-much-more-to-the-us-pianists-career-than-tragedy

PD

[pjme]

 "....are there not many fans of Mr. Fleisher?"....
I cannot give an answer, PD.
He leaves a most interesting and valuable legacy!
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71CPpqR0I1L._SX450_.jpg

He won the first Queen Elisabeth competition in Brussels (1952) - playing Brahms first concerto and Raymond Chevreuille's second concerto (the "imposé" - actually only two movements were performed...the concerto was too long...).
https://queenelisabethcompetition.be/en/laureates/leon-fleisher/135/
that 1952 competition launched the careers of Maria Tipo, Philippe Entremont, Karl Engel, Lamar crawson, Yuri Boukoff, Hans Graf!

[Daverz]

I'm a big Fleisher fan.  There is not better set of the Beethoven Piano Concertos, for example, and the Brahms concertos are also pretty great.

[André]

I heard Fleisher in concert in May of 2018. He was 90 then. I didn't expect much from him, as he had chosen a rarely played Mozart concerto (no 12), and I had come for the other work on the program (Bruckner symphony no 8 ). But I was stunned by his artistry. Here's what I wrote back then on GMG:

The 12th concerto is quite deceptive in its intimate, low-key character. The piano part is probably not very difficult to play, but is still of substantial musical import. Fleisher is a master stroryteller, playing in a totally unflashy, almost deceptive way. Curiously, it's the pauses in the piano discourse that were the most telling feature of Fleisher's interpretation. The timing for each pause, silence, hesitation made me hang out to his every discreet gesture. An unexpected lesson in great artistry.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Good to hear from others that you've enjoyed his albums and concerts.    I was just a bit surprised at the initial lack of response to my posting that made me wonder as to his popularity here on GMG.

Best wishes,

PD

[Scion7]

Yes, I saw that he had passed a few days ago on Wikipedia's "Recent Deaths" news.  His recording of the Brahm's Piano Quintet with the Julliard String Quartet in 1963 is a great rendition.
His loss of use of one of his hands shortly afterwards forced him into becoming a proponent of one-handed pieces, which he did very well at.

R.I.P.

[pjme]

https://www.youtube.com/v/HjvBcnjGhT0

This is great!
Klaviermusik mit Orchester Op. 29, (linke Hand).

Einleitung – Mäßig schnelle Halbe
Sehr lebhafte Halbe
Trio, Basso ostinato – Langsame Viertel, nur sehr wenig Ausdruck.
Finale – Bewegte Halbe

Fleisher and the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Herbert Blomstedt.
Live recording, 2005

1995 Madrid: concerto pour la main gauche.
Not in the best sound, but still very impressive:
https://youtu.be/Jgj6jScPWK8