Leon Fleisher Reflects: A Peabody Founder's Day Interview with Ray Sprenkle
A special night with Leon Fleisher, a legendary pianist and conductor at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute, hosted live on our Ustream channel: www.ustream.tv/channel/johnshopkinsu.
Fleisher was interviewed live by Peabody faculty member Ray Sprenkle -- a noted composer, historian and lecturer -- against the backdrop of the gorgeous Peabody Library.
At the age of nine, Fleisher began studies with the great German pianist Artur Schnabel, made his New York Philharmonic debut at sixteen and was the first American to win the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition in 1952. He made touchstone recordings with Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra and for a dozen years he appeared in all the world's major music centers to great acclaim until, in 1965, he was struck with a neurological affliction that rendered two fingers of his right hand immobile.
For almost four decades, Fleisher continued to share his special gifts through performances of the repertoire for left-hand, as a conductor and teacher, never giving up the hope that he would play again with both hands. Through special treatments, he has been playing with both hands again in recent years and making critically-acclaimed recordings.
At the Kennedy Center Honors, he was recognized as "a consummate musician whose career is a testament to the life-affirming power of art."
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Leon Fleisher's comments and stories and fond reminiscences of George Szell brought me back to the days when the pair recorded the concertos he listed for Columbia Records. At the time, I was Executive Assistant to Goddard Lieberson, the president of the company. One afternoon in 1959, Mr. Szell burst into the office saying that he hoped my boss was their. He was, and in went the conductor: "This boy is a genius! I love him!" Of course, he was speaking of Leon Fleisher.
Absolutely wonderful! I was just going to check it out and watch the rest of it later, but it (i.e. Mr. Fleisher) was so fascinating that I kept on watching until the very end. It was totally engrossing. I was fortunate enough to hear him in person twice--first, ca. 1960, at Carnegie Hall (Rach. Pag.}, and then in Atlanta, late 62 or early 63, where he played the Beethoven Concerto No. 2 and the Paganini Rhapsody, after which a friend of Mr. Fleisher's took me backstage to meet and speak with him; two wonderful experiences I've never forgotten. Thank you so much for this marvelous video.☺
A successful 'digital experiment' sirs. Many thanks. A superb and meaningful convocation. But why was this limited to 1 hour where it should have been 2 hours - at least - given the potential breadth barring any stress on LF. All the same it made a difference and thanks.