I was listening to National Public Radio (NPR) one morning recently. There was a feature commemorating the life of Leon Fleisher, an American pianist and conductor, who died in early August, 2020 at the age of 92. My attention was captured by an interesting aspect of his long musical career. Like many classical musicians, Fleisher was a child prodigy who began studying piano at age 4. He made his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City at age 16 and became one of the top concert pianists of his day.
In 1965 he began to suffer from a disabling affliction of his right hand that involved an uncontrollable curling of his ring and little fingers toward the palm. From 1965 to 1995, when his right-hand disability was finally cured and he returned to two-handed play, Fleisher pursued his musical career by performing piano pieces written for the left hand only. Fortunately, some of these works already existed. Well-known composers, such as Ravel and Prokofiev, had written pieces for a gifted pianist, Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I. Fleisher performed these pieces and also commissioned new works by notable composers. His courage and tenacity have been documented many times and in 2007 he was awarded an honor by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in recognition of his contributions to music. Watch this YouTube video of Fleisher playing a work by Ravel written for the left hand. It shows the remarkable resilience of a pianist devoted to music as the focus of his life regardless of the obstacles he faced.
Leon Fleisher playing Ravel piano concerto for the left hand
Leon Fleisher was also a teacher who mentored young pianists including Yuja Wang. Watch this YouTube video of Yuja Wang playing the same work by Ravel. Even without a right-hand disability, gifted pianists honor music with the left hand.