Sunday, August 09, 2020

LEFTY LEON FLEISHER - The Pianist Who Came Back from The Hand of Fate

Above, a Chopin nocturne. 

Here’s a quote from classical pianist Leon Fleisher’s memoir:

“When the gods want to get you, they know right where to strike, the place where it will hurt the most.” 

The world of the classical pianist is extremely stressful and brutally difficult. Think it’s hard to make it in rock or country music or rap? The standards for classical are obnoxiously high.

Just about the worst thing that can happen to a genius pianist who has beaten the odds and risen to the top of his profession, is the nightmare of injury. Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) suffered a kind of "carpal tunnel syndrome" disaster that crippled his career for decades.

A prodigy born in San Francisco, Leon was hailed by some of the greats of his era (conductor Pierre Monteux and pianist Artur Schnabel). He studied with Schnabel since the age of 10 and at 16 he performed with Monteux and the New York Philharmonic.

He was signed to Columbia records for praised recordings in the 50’s and early 60’s. Focal dystonia, caused by over-use of certain muscles or tendons, weakened his right hand in 1965, creating cramping in several fingers. “I was in a state of deep depression,” he recalled. His second marriage was unraveling and he thought of suicide.  

Now what? He followed the Paul Wittgenstein playbook and tried to continue by playing the left-handed “freak” pieces. 

Paul Wittgenstein's career was promising until a literal shot in the arm during World War I left him an amputee.  Josef Labor was the first composer to create a left-handed piece for him. Once Labor’s “Variations for Pianoforte Left Hand” debuted, and Paul adapted famous works for left-handed variations, it was clear Wittgenstein had a future after all. Like many a genius, he proved to be quite temperamental and even a bit of an ingrate.

Hindemeth wrote a left-handed piano concerto for him in 1924, and it was rejected. The great Prokofiev submitted one in 1931 and it too was rejected.  Ravel wrote the brilliant “Concerto for the Left Hand” and Wittgenstein approved. It became his showpiece, a spectacular success when it premiered around 1932. It is so spectacular, most wouldn’t even realize only one hand is playing when they hear it. 

Wittgenstein thrived despite the Nazis, who considered him a Jew, even though (for the sake of safety) most of his family had converted years earlier. Eventually, as long as he and his sisters gave them ALL of their family fortune, they were allowed to to live. Wittgenstein came to America in 1941. 

John Browning’s version of the Ravel piece was the first I bought and remains my favorite. The vintage pianists on “primitive” (ie, non digital) vinyl from that area of course include Kempf, Rubinstein and Richter, and I have more of their Beethoven sonatas and concertos than others. I can't say Fleisher was one of my favorites, but I do have some of his Beethoven works, and he's definitely one of the better interpreters.

Aside from left-handed works, Fleisher became a teacher and a conductor with the Baltimore Symphony. Some twenty years passed before medical science was able to help Fleisher regain enough use of his hand to be considered any kind of competitive pianist again. In  1982 he returned to the stage but didn’t think his performance was anywhere near as good as he could be, and it took another ten years before he was comfortable enough, using everything from aromatherapy to botox injections, to take up professional performances again, both solo and in duo-piano works with his wife.

Two photos: the optimistic young Leon at the start of his career, and after enduring what happens when fate lends a hand...or takes one away. 

 

During Leon’s absence from the recording studio, quite a few other promising pianists came and went due to the whims of fate. I remember seeing Roger Scime (accent grave over the e...) who recorded for Columbia’s subsidiary Epic label. He issued a Gershwin album in 1959 but a car accident damaged his hands and the 60's became lost to him. I saw him in the 70's, and he played well, but couldn't quite compete with the top recording artists of the day.

Another artist signed to Columbia (and recording with George Szell as Fleisher had), Gary Graffman, also saw his recording career shortened when he sprained his right hand in 1977 and he too, was diagnosed with focal dystonia. In 1985 he thrilled audiences with the premiere of a piano concerto for the left hand created by Erich Wolfgang Korngold for, yes, Paul Wittgenstein. Gary is still with us, in his early 90’s. 

In 1996, Leon Fleisher and Gary Graffman united to perform “Concerto for Two Pianos” by William Bolcom, a work that could be played by ONE pianist, or by two, each using one hand and one piano. In a strange twist of fate, Fleisher would premiere the Wittgenstein-rejected  “Piano Concerto for the Left Hand” by Paul Hindemith. 

Why hadn’t it ever been recorded?  Hindemeth either didn’t have a spare copy, or didn’t have another one-handed pianist to give it to, or no able-bodied pianist wanted to bother with it. It was only discovered after the death of Wittgenstein’s widow. She was several decades younger than he, and passed on in 2002. Wittgenstein died way back in 1961. Leon premiered the piece in 2004. 

If you’re wondering, yes, there are a few one-handed pianists in the world (there’s even Liu Wei, an Asian pianist with no hands, who plays with his feet…but obviously with a limited repertoire). 

 

Norman Malone (partially paralyzed when his berserk father went after him and his brother with a hammer to their heads) managed to master the Ravel piece while in his 60’s.  Nicholas McCarthy (born without a right hand) is in his 20’s and the best known single-handed pianist playing today. 

One thing about pianists…once they are on the right track, age itself isn’t much of a factor. A surprising number of concert pianists have been able to remain big attractions and tour the world into their 70’s, 80’s, and even 90’s. Richter, Horowitz, even Rubinstein with troubled eyesight, performed late in life.

Fleisher was a “Kennedy Center Honors” recepient in 2007. One of the last major appearances for Fleisher was, at the request of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a performance at the Supreme Court in 2012.

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