Leon Fleisher

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Leon Fleisher in 1963

Leon Fleisher (born July 23, 1928 in San Francisco , California - † August 2, 2020 in Baltimore , Maryland ) was an American pianist and conductor .

biography

Leon Fleisher started playing the piano at the age of four. He made his first public appearance when he was eight. As a teenager, he performed with the New York Philharmonic . Artur Schnabel accepted him into his small group of students and greatly influenced the way he played.

Fleisher is known for his recordings in collaboration with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra from the 1950s and early 1960s. They were the result of a contractual agreement with the company "Columbia Masterworks". These include the recordings of the piano concertos by Beethoven and Brahms , as well as the piano concerto No. 25 by Mozart and the piano concertos by Grieg and Schumann , the symphonic variations by César Franck and Rachmaninoff's rhapsody on a theme by Paganini .

In the 1960s, Fleisher largely lost right hand use due to a condition eventually diagnosed as focal dystonia . Therefore, he shifted the focus of his musical activity to teaching, especially at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University . He also recorded various works from the repertoire for the left hand. Due to his limitations, he performed exclusively as a left-handed concert pianist for over thirty years. From 1998 the regular injection of botulinum toxin ( Botox ) enabled him to play with his right hand again with almost no restrictions.

In 1992, Fleisher was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 2007 he was awarded the Kennedy Prize .

Most recently, Fleisher, despite his advanced age, worked as a conductor and teacher at several musical universities. Among other things, he worked at the Tanglewood Music Center . His students included Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman , Naida Cole , Enrico Elisi, Elena Fischer-Dieskau, Enrique Graf, Hélène Grimaud , Margarita Höhenrieder , Hao Huang, Kevin Kenner, Louis Lortie, Jura Margulis , Stephen Prutsman, Wonny Song, André Watts , Jack Winerock, Moritz Winkelmann, Daniel Wnukowski, Orit Wolf and Einav Yarden .

Fleisher’s autobiography, My Nine Lives , was published in November 2010 , co-authored with Anne Midgette, a Washington Post music critic .

Discography

  • Leon Fleisher: The Complete Album Collection, Sony 87254 59972, 23 CD.

Movie

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Allan Kozinn: Leon Fleisher, 92, Dies; Spellbinding Pianist With One Hand or Two. In: The New York Times , August 2, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  2. ^ Leon Fleisher: Andrew W. Mellon Chair. Piano. In: Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute. Retrieved January 10, 2019 .
  3. ↑ A state of grace and ecstasy in FAZ of May 24, 2013, page 37
personal data
SURNAME Fleisher, Leon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pianist and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco , California
DATE OF DEATH 2nd August 2020
Place of death Baltimore , Maryland