Fleisher, Leon

Fleisher, Leon
▪ 2008

born July 23, 1928, San Francisco, Calif.

      In December 2007 American pianist Leon Fleisher reached a high point in a remarkable career when he was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor in Washington, D.C. A child prodigy, Fleisher began studying the piano at age four, gave his first public recital at eight, and at nine was taken under the wing of the legendary Austrian pianist and teacher Artur Schnabel. Fleisher made his debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Monteux in 1944, and he ensured his place among the top pianists of the day when he won Belgium's Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition in 1952. Thereafter, he was much in demand by orchestras, concert promoters, and record companies. Especially notable was his series of concerts and recordings featuring the concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

      In early 1965 Fleisher began suffering from a malfunction of his right hand: the ring and little fingers curled uncontrollably to his palm. The problem was diagnosed in 1991 as focal dystonia, a condition related to repetitive-stress syndrome, which not infrequently affects musicians. Undaunted, Fleisher focused his energies on teaching and conducting. In 1959 he began his long association with the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Md.; he also taught at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. He was the founder in 1967 of the Theatre Chamber Players at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and artistic director (1986–97) of the Tanglewood Music Center, Lenox, Mass. Fleisher was also a highly respected conductor.

      Eventually Fleisher began performing left-hand pieces for piano. (A number of such works—including compositions by Maurice Ravel, Sergey Prokofiev, Benjamin Britten, and Paul Hindemith—were written for Paul Wittgenstein, a gifted pianist who lost his right arm in World War I.) In addition, Fleisher commissioned or inspired new works from William Bolcom, Lukas Foss, Gunter Schuller, and several other notable composers. During his years of affliction, Fleisher sought relief in numerous treatments, including brain surgery; in the mid-1990s he discovered that occasional injections of Botox (botulinum toxin used as a muscle relaxant) combined with Rolfing (a type of massage therapy) ameliorated the condition. Fleisher returned to two-hand performance in 1995; his right hand steadily improved, although he did not abandon the left-hand repertoire. In 2004 he played a triumphant return recital at Carnegie Hall, and he made his first solo two-hand recording since the 1960s. A short documentary film by Nathaniel Kahn about Fleisher's persistence, Two Hands, was nominated for a 2007 Academy Award.

Charles Trumbull

* * *

▪ American pianist and conductor
born July 23, 1928, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.
 
 American pianist and conductor who overcame a debilitating neurological condition to resume playing his full concert repertoire.

      A child prodigy, Fleisher began studying the piano at age four, gave his first public recital at eight, and at nine was taken under the wing of the legendary Austrian pianist and teacher Artur Schnabel (Schnabel, Artur). Fleisher made his debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Monteux (Monteux, Pierre) in 1944, and he ensured his place among the top pianists of the day when he won Belgium's Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition in 1952. Thereafter, he was much in demand by orchestras, concert promoters, and record companies. Especially notable was his series of concerts and recordings featuring the concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms with George Szell (Szell, George) and the Cleveland Orchestra.

      In early 1965 Fleisher began suffering from a malfunction of his right hand: the ring and little fingers curled uncontrollably to his palm. The problem was diagnosed in 1991 as focal dystonia, a condition related to repetitive-stress syndrome, which not infrequently affects musicians. Undaunted, Fleisher focused his energies on teaching and conducting. In 1959 he began his long association with the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Md.; he also taught at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, and at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. He was the founder in 1967 of the Theatre Chamber Players at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and the artistic director (1986–97) of the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Mass.

      Eventually Fleisher began performing left-hand pieces for piano. (A number of such works—including compositions by Maurice Ravel (Ravel, Maurice), Sergey Prokofiev (Prokofiev, Sergey), Benjamin Britten (Britten, Benjamin), and Paul Hindemith (Hindemith, Paul)—were written for Paul Wittgenstein, a gifted pianist who lost his right arm in World War I.) In addition, Fleisher commissioned or inspired new works from William Bolcom (Bolcom, William), Lukas Foss (Foss, Lukas), Gunter Schuller (Schuller, Gunther), and several other notable composers. During his years of affliction, Fleisher sought relief in numerous treatments, including brain surgery; in the mid-1990s he discovered that occasional injections of Botox (botulinum toxin used as a muscle relaxant) combined with Rolfing (a type of massage therapy) ameliorated the condition. Fleisher returned to two-hand performance in 1995; his right hand steadily improved, although he did not abandon the left-hand repertoire. In 2004 he played a triumphant return recital at Carnegie Hall, and he made his first solo two-hand recording since the 1960s. A short documentary film by Nathaniel Kahn about Fleisher's persistence, Two Hands (2006), was nominated for an Academy Award. In 2007 he was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor for his contributions to music.

Charles Trumbull
 

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • FLEISHER, LEON — (1928– ), U.S. pianist and conductor. Fleisher was born in San Francisco to Russian parents. He gave his first public recital at the age of six. From 1938 until 1948 he studied with arthur schnabel in Italy and in New York. He made his New York… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Léon Fleisher — Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (né le 23 juillet 1928 à San Francisco) est un pianiste et chef d orchestre américain. A l âge de huit ans, il commence à jouer en public, et à seize ans il se produit en concert avec l orchestre philharmonique de New… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Leon Fleisher — (* 23. Juli 1928 in San Francisco) ist ein amerikanischer Pianist und Dirigent. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Biographie 2 Film / Videoaufnahmen 2.1 Zur Biographie …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Leon Fleisher — (né le 23 juillet 1928 à San Francisco) est un pianiste et chef d orchestre américain. A l âge de huit ans, il commence à jouer en public, et à seize ans il se produit en concert avec l orchestre philharmonique de New York dirigé par Pierre… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fleisher — ist der Name folgender Personen: Leon Fleisher (* 1928), Amerikanischer Pianist Shira Fleisher (* 1983), deutsche Schauspielerin Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselben Wort bezeichne …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Leon Fleisher — (San Francisco, 23 de julio de 1928) es un pianista y director estadounidense de orquesta. Comenzó sus estudios de piano a los 4 años y realizó su debut en concierto a los 8. Tocó a los 16 con la New York Philharmonic bajo la dirección de Pierre… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Fleisher —   [ flaɪʃə], Leon, amerikanischer Pianist, * San Francisco (Calif.) 23. 7. 1928; studierte u. a. bei A. Schnabel, debütierte mit 14 Jahren in San Francisco und machte sich v. a. als Brahms und Liszt Interpret einen Namen. Während eines… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Leon Fleisher — Infobox musical artist Name = Leon Fleisher Img capt = The Essential Leon Fleisher album cover Img size = 240x240 Landscape = Background = gray Birth name = Alias = Born = birth date|1928|7|23|mf=y Died = Origin = San Francisco, CA, U.S.… …   Wikipedia

  • KIRCHNER, LEON — (1919– ), U.S. composer, and pianist. Born in Brooklyn, Kirchner studied piano and began to compose at an early age. When he was nine, the family moved to Los Angeles, where he studied under ernst toch , and later arnold schoenberg . In 1938–39… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Liste der Biografien/Fl — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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