Results tagged “leonfleisher”

Leon Fleisher is a world renown pianist and conductor who has left a lasting impact on pianists in the 20th century. Many of his students are now world famous soloists and teachers, including Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman, Helene Grimaud, and Andre Watts. He lost feeling in his right hand due to focal dystonia, and continued his career by performing left-hand piano music (yes, there is such a thing) and teaching at Peabody and Curtis. Here is a video of him performing the cadenza (often in a piece the solo instrument goes off into an improvisation or virtuosic passage, often towards the end of a piece) of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. This piece was written for a friend of Ravel's who had lost his right arm in the first World War. Leon Fleisher eventually regained the use of his right hand and performs and conducts on a regular basis. This week he comes to Los Angeles to conduct the Colburn Orchestra. For more information on his work, 60 Minutes did a documentary on him that you can also find on Youtube and there is also an Oscar-nominated documentary titled "Two Hands" out there.