July 22, 2019.Pianists and singers.Three pianists were born this week: Americans Leon Fleisher and Alexis Weissenberg, and a Portuguese, Maria João Pires.Leon Fleisher will turn 91 tomorrow, he was born on July 23rd of 1928 in San Francisco, into a family of poor Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.Fleisher started his piano studies at the age of four.He had several piano teachers but eventually became a pupil of the great German pianist Artur Schnabel, who by then emigrated from Nazi Germany to the United States.In 1942, the 14-year-old Fleisher played Liszt’s Piano Concerto no. 2 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Pierre Monteux (Monteux called Fleisher “the pianistic find of the century”).A year later they performed the Brahms D Minor piano concerto (no. 1).The following year, now 16 years old, Fleisher played his first concert at Carnegie Hall; again, it was Monteux conducting and but this time the orchestra was the New York Philharmonic.In 1952, Fleisher won the Queen Elisabeth competition, the first American to do so.He was performing and recording extensively (for example, with the Cleveland orchestra under the direction of George Szell he made the famous recordings of all Beethoven and both Brahms’s piano concertos).He was considered one of the greatest young pianists of his generation when a disaster struck: in 1965 Fleisher lost control of his right hand due to the focal dystonia, an illness which makes the muscles of the fingers contract involuntarily.All he could do was play a very limited repertoire for the left-hand, its central pieces being piano concertos by Ravel and Prokofiev. In 1981 he had surgery which didn’t help much; further treatments followed, and Botox seemed to have helped the most - eventually Fleisher managed to return to the two-hand repertoire.It wasn’t till 2004 that Fleisher released an album titled “Two Hands,” his first in almost 40 years, in which he played works by Bach, Scarlatti, Chopin, Debussy and Schubert.He never recovered his former spectacular technique, and of course he was of a certain age when technique simply deteriorates - in 2004 he was already 76 years old.
During the time that his right hand wasn’t working, Fleisher began conducting and teaching (he’s the Chair of the piano department at the Peabody).Even though his career lasted for not more than 15 years, Leon Fleisher will be remembered as one of the greatest performers of the 20th century.Here’s his recording of Brahms’s Piano Concerto no. 2, which we mentioned earlier.It was made in 1962; George Szell conducts the Cleveland Orchestra.
Two more notable pianists were born this week, Alexis Weissenberg on July 26th of 1929 (Weissenberg died in 2012) and Maria João Pires, on July 23rd of 1944 who, at the age of 75, retired from big tours but continues to give concerts.
Two of the greatest Italian tenors of the 20th century were born this week: Giuseppe Di Stefano on July 24th of 1921 and Mario Del Monaco – on July 27th of 1915.Here’s the heroic Del Monaco with the young (27 years old) Maria Callas in Mexico City in 1951 in Verdi’s Aida.The recording is semi-professional (you can clearly hear the prompter, as the microphone was positioned somewhere close to his booth) but the singing is phenomenal.
Pianists, singers, 2019
July 22, 2019. Pianists and singers. Three pianists were born this week: Americans Leon Fleisher and Alexis Weissenberg, and a Portuguese, Maria João Pires. Leon Fleisher will turn 91
tomorrow, he was born on July 23rd of 1928 in San Francisco, into a family of poor Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Fleisher started his piano studies at the age of four. He had several piano teachers but eventually became a pupil of the great German pianist Artur Schnabel, who by then emigrated from Nazi Germany to the United States. In 1942, the 14-year-old Fleisher played Liszt’s Piano Concerto no. 2 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Pierre Monteux (Monteux called Fleisher “the pianistic find of the century”). A year later they performed the Brahms D Minor piano concerto (no. 1). The following year, now 16 years old, Fleisher played his first concert at Carnegie Hall; again, it was Monteux conducting and but this time the orchestra was the New York Philharmonic. In 1952, Fleisher won the Queen Elisabeth competition, the first American to do so. He was performing and recording extensively (for example, with the Cleveland orchestra under the direction of George Szell he made the famous recordings of all Beethoven and both Brahms’s piano concertos). He was considered one of the greatest young pianists of his generation when a disaster struck: in 1965 Fleisher lost control of his right hand due to the focal dystonia, an illness which makes the muscles of the fingers contract involuntarily. All he could do was play a very limited repertoire for the left-hand, its central pieces being piano concertos by Ravel and Prokofiev. In 1981 he had surgery which didn’t help much; further treatments followed, and Botox seemed to have helped the most - eventually Fleisher managed to return to the two-hand repertoire. It wasn’t till 2004 that Fleisher released an album titled “Two Hands,” his first in almost 40 years, in which he played works by Bach, Scarlatti, Chopin, Debussy and Schubert. He never recovered his former spectacular technique, and of course he was of a certain age when technique simply deteriorates - in 2004 he was already 76 years old.
During the time that his right hand wasn’t working, Fleisher began conducting and teaching (he’s the Chair of the piano department at the Peabody). Even though his career lasted for not more than 15 years, Leon Fleisher will be remembered as one of the greatest performers of the 20th century. Here’s his recording of Brahms’s Piano Concerto no. 2, which we mentioned earlier. It was made in 1962; George Szell conducts the Cleveland Orchestra.
Two more notable pianists were born this week, Alexis Weissenberg on July 26th of 1929 (Weissenberg died in 2012) and Maria João Pires, on July 23rd of 1944 who, at the age of 75, retired from big tours but continues to give concerts.
Two of the greatest Italian tenors of the 20th century were born this week: Giuseppe Di Stefano on July 24th of 1921 and Mario Del Monaco – on July 27th of 1915. Here’s the heroic Del Monaco with the young (27 years old) Maria Callas in Mexico City in 1951 in Verdi’s Aida. The recording is semi-professional (you can clearly hear the prompter, as the microphone was positioned somewhere close to his booth) but the singing is phenomenal.