NEWS
By David Lindauer and David Lindauer,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | February 5, 1997
Some great music-making is going on in Annapolis these days. And nowhere was this more evident than at Maryland Hall Friday and Saturday, when Leon Fleisher led the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in three challenging works that provided a short tour of the Austrian and German repertoire.The first stop was the classical period, represented by Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12, which Fleisher, the orchestra's former music director, conducted from the keyboard.Fleisher drew graceful string playing from his orchestra, then repeated those musical lines in his crisp, direct keyboard style.
FEATURES
By Daniel Schlosberg and Daniel Schlosberg,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | December 4, 2001
When Edward Polochick described Leon Fleisher, his onetime teacher, as "in my book, the greatest musician alive today," he wasn't being obsequious. Classical musicians in Baltimore adore Fleisher as baseball fans adore Cal Ripken, and Sunday's "Beethoven Spectacular," in celebration of the 15th anniversary of Polochick's Concert Artists of Baltimore ensemble, was a testament to Fleisher's legacy as pianist, teacher, musical philosopher and cultural force....
ENTERTAINMENT
By Stephen Wigler and Stephen Wigler,Sun Music Critic | April 25, 1999
It is 40 years since Leon Fleisher's appointment as Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. The conservatory celebrates the anniversary this week with a three-day festival in Fleisher's honor.The festival concludes Wednesday evening with a black-tie, by- invitation-only dinner in the George Peabody Library. Actress Claire Bloom will act as mistress of ceremonies to titled nobility and musical luminaries who have come from all over the globe to honor Fleisher.
NEWS
By Michael Sragow and Michael Sragow,Sun Movie Critic | February 18, 2007
Headlines proclaiming Leon Fleisher as a teenage piano prodigy; applause rocking the theater; and a sepia record jacket announcing the pianist teaming with conductor George Szell on Mozart's 25th Piano Concerto -- these triumphal sounds and images tumble off the screen at the start of Nathaniel Kahn's Two Hands: The Leon Fleisher Story. But they swiftly give way to an empty Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with a vacant piano center-stage, as Fleisher speaks of the terrible time in 1964 when he was preparing for the most important tour of his life and he discovered that he couldn't use the fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Tim Smith and Tim Smith,Sun Music Critic | November 25, 2001
The music of Beethoven invariably suggests struggle, determination and, more often than not, triumph. It's a good match for pianist Leon Fleisher, whose life has had a large share of all three conditions. Next weekend, he is slated to play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 -- the one nicknamed Emperor -- for the first time in four decades. The performance, with the Concert Artists of Baltimore, will certainly involve struggle and determination. And triumph? "There ain't no guarantees," says Fleisher, 73, with a smile.
FEATURES
By Tim Smith and Tim Smith,SUN MUSIC CRITIC | May 12, 2004
Under the best of circumstances, the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Johannes Brahms can be a scary prospect for a soloist. The outer movements abound in two-fisted, blood-and-guts action; the rapt Adagio in between calls for an exceptionally poetic touch. Ultimately, what the concerto demands from the pianist is total, unconditional victory. So why is Leon Fleisher, who hasn't enjoyed full, free use of his right hand for almost 40 years, attempting such a task in Baltimore this week? "It's interesting and it's fun," he says.