Leon Fleisher

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.
Instrument = Piano
Voice_type =
Genre = Classical
Occupation = Pianist
Years_active = 1930s - Present
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Leon Fleisher (born July 23, 1928) is an 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 a combination of massage and botox injections. He also undertook conducting during this time, serving at one time as Music Director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in Maryland. 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, entitled "Two Hands," to critical acclaim. "Two Hands" is also the title of a short documentary on Fleisher by Nathaniel Kahn which was nominated for an Academy Award for best short subject on January 23, 2007. Fleisher received the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors. Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman described him as "a consummate musician whose career is a moving testament to the life-affirming power of art."

Fleisher's musical interests extend beyond the central German Romantic repertory. The American composer William Bolcom composed his Concerto for Two Pianos, Left Hand for Fleisher and his close friend Gary Graffman, who has also suffered from debilitating problems with his right hand. It received its first performance in Baltimore in April 1996. The concerto is constructed in such a way that it can be performed in one of three ways, with either piano part alone with reduced orchestra, or with both piano parts and the two reduced orchestras combined into a full orchestra.

He has continued to be involved in music, both conducting and teaching at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto; he is also closely associated with the Tanglewood Music Center. As a teacher, Fleisher has carried on a tradition that descends directly from Beethoven himself, handed down generationally through Carl Czerny, Theodor Leschetizky, 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. Today his students are among piano faculty members at major music schools. Also among his students are such renowned concert pianists as Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman, Jeffrey Chappell, Naida Cole, Enrique Graf, Helene Grimaud, Lorin Hollander, Bonnie Kellert, Kevin Kenner, Konstantin Lifschitz, Louis Lortie, Ana-Maria Vera, Andre Watts and Daniel Wnukowski.

Awards and Recognitions

Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition of Belgium
* Leon Fleisher for piano (1952)Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

"Instrumentalist of the Year", Musical America (1994)

Honorary doctorates from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Towson State University, The Boston Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music

Johns Hopkins University President's Medal.

Fleisher received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for 2007. [cite news
url = http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors/
title = America to Celebrate Five Extraordinary Artists on Sunday, December 2, 2007
]

Selected Discography

* "Schubert: Sonata in B-Flat Major, D.960 / Ländler (original LP release 1956)", Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008 (digital re-release) ["First Digital Release of Six Recordings by Eminent Pianist Leon Fleisher Previously Available Only on LP" July 22, 2008 [http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=8713467&nav=menu130_13_5_1] ]

* "Debussy: Suite bergamasque / Ravel: Sonatine / Valses nobles et sentimentales / Alborado del gracioso (original LP release 1959)", Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008 (digital re-release)

* "Mozart: Sonata in C Major, K.330 / Sonata in E-Flat Major, K.282 / Rondo in D Major, K.485 (original LP release 1960)", Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008 (digital re-release)

* "Liszt: Sonata in B Minor / Weber: Sonata No.4 in E Minor, Op. 70 / Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 (original LP release 1960)", Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008 (digital re-release)

* "Copland: Piano Sonata / Sessions: From My Diary / Kirchner: Piano Sonata/Rorem: Three Barcarolles (original LP release 1963)", Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008 (digital re-release)

* "Brahms: Quintet for Piano and Strings in F Minor, Op. 34 (original LP release 1963)", Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008 (digital re-release)

* "The Essential Leon Fleisher", Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008

* "The Journey", Vanguard Classics, 2006

* "Leon Fleisher: Two Hands", Vanguard Classics, 2004

* "Beethoven: Piano Concertos (original recordings remastered)", Sony BMG Masterworks, 2006

* "Leon Fleisher Recital", Sony Classical, 1993

* "Ravel, Prokoviev, Britten: Piano Works for the Left Hand", Sony Classical, 1993

* "Beethoven: 5 Concertos / Mozart Concerto No. 25", Sony Classical, 1990

References

External links

* Sony BMG Masterworks Podcast Series on Leon Fleisher [http://podcasts.sonybmgmasterworks.com/category/music-of-masterworks/leon-fleisher-music-of-masterworks/]

* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92819874&ft=1&f=1039 NPR feature "Leon Fleisher: A Piano Legend at 80" on July 23, 2008 ]

* Leon Fleisher on "The Marc Steiner Show" [http://www.wypr.org/M_Steiner.html]

* Leon Fleisher on WYPR's "Maryland Morning" with Tom Hall [http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wypr/local-wypr-659313.mp3]

* Mary Bubala’s feature story for WJZ-CBS TV on Fleisher receiving the Kennedy Center Honors. To view video: [http://wjz.com/seenon/leon.fleisher.baltimore.2.618257.html]

* Interview with Fred Child on NPR "Performance Today" [http://performancetoday.publicradio.org/?month=12&day=20&year=2007]

* [http://www.americancomposers.org/bios20010318.htm Leon Fleisher biography]

*Wisconsin Public Radio program includes an interview with Leon Fleisher [http://www.wpr.org/book/051211a.html]

*Newsweek, 1 April 2004, article and transcript of interview [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4648160/]

* [http://www.cello.org/heaven/disabled/fleish.htm On his disability and claimed holistic cure]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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

  • 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 — (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

  • 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 — 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

  • 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… …   Universalium

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Cleveland Orchestra discography — The Cleveland Orchestra, which was founded in 1918, was first recorded in 1924. Most of the orchestra s recordings have been made either in its concert home, Severance Hall, or in nearby Masonic Auditorium. Contents 1 Recording labels 2 Premiere… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”