Word: fleisher
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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PERFORMER: LEON FLEISHER...
Warfare has not claimed any pianistic right arms lately, but various mysterious maladies such as carpal tunnel syndrome, progressive degeneration of the nerves and repetitive stress syndrome have struck a number of pianists, most prominently Gary Graffman and Leon Fleisher. Graffman, a dazzling stylist whose troubles began when he first sprained the fourth finger on his right hand while playing an unresponsive instrument in Berlin, has been a left- handed pianist since 1979. Fleisher, a towering performer whose 1958-62 cycle of Beethoven concertos with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra remains a pinnacle of modern recordings, first noticed...
Surgery at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital in 1981 brought Fleisher some temporary relief, and in 1982 he made a two-fisted comeback, playing Franck's Symphonic Variations in Baltimore. But the treatment didn't last. Other careers beckoned, including teaching at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and conducting, but the music world lamented what might have been...
...Fleisher has put Wittgenstein's and his own misfortune to good use, playing three of the pieces commissioned by the Austrian. The Ravel Concerto in D Major is so powerfully conceived and artfully composed that its limitation is hardly apparent; in many ways it is superior to the same composer's two-handed Concerto in G Major. Fleisher digs into the dark, angst- ridden work, plumbing its depths with the unimpaired musical intelligence that has always marked his playing. (Would that his accompanists, Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony, were on the same wavelength.) He sprints through Prokofiev's steely...
Boston Symphony Orchestra-with conducter Seiji Ozawa and pianist Leon Fleisher performs Berlioz's "Roman Carnival" Overture, Ravel's Piano Concerto for the left hand and Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony. In Boston Symphony Hall. Tickets are priced from $20 to $52.50. Call 266-1200. Friday...