The Well-Tempered Ear
The New York Times names the top 25 classical recordings of 2020 and includes sample tracks
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By Jacob Stockinger
What did the holidays bring you?
Did Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa bring you a gift card?
A subscription to a streaming service?
Maybe some cash?
Or maybe you just want to hear some new music or new musicians or new interpretations of old classics?
Every year, the music critics of The New York Times list their top 25 recordings of the past year. Plus at the end of the story, the newspaper offers a sample track from each recording to give you even more guidance.
This year is no exception (below).
In fact, the listing might be even more welcome this year, given the coronavirus pandemic with the lack of live concerts and the isolation and self-quarantine that have ensued.
The Ear hasn’t heard all of the picks or even the majority of them. But the ones he has heard are indeed outstanding. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a sample of the outstanding Rameau-Debussy recital by the acclaimed Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafssen, who scored major successes with recent albums of Philip Glass and Johann Sebastian Bach.)
Here is a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/music/best-classical-music.html
Of course not all critics agree.
The Ear has already listed the nominations for the Grammy Awards (a link is below), and more critics’ picks will be featured in coming days.
You should also notice that a recording of Ethel Smyth’s “The Prison” — featuring soprano Sarah Brailey (below), a graduate student at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and a co-founder of Just Bach — is on the Times’ list as well as on the list of Grammy nominations.
What new recordings – or even old recordings — would you recommend?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Is Royal Wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason the next Yo-Yo Ma?
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By Jacob Stockinger
If you watched the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and American Meghan Markle – who are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – you were probably impressed by many things.
Not the least of them was the performance by the young Afro-British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who performed three pieces: “After a Dream” by Gabriel Faure; “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert; and “Sicilienne” (an ancient dance step) by Maria Theresia von Paradis.
The young player acquitted himself just fine, despite the pressure of the event, with its avid public interest in the United Kingdom and a worldwide TV viewership of 2 billion.
But that is to be expected. He is no ordinary teenage cellist. Now 19, he was named BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016 — the first black musician of African background to be awarded the honor since it started in 1938. A native of Nottingham, even as he pursues a busy concert and recording schedule, he continues his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
So it was with great anticipation that The Ear listened to “Inspiration,” Kanneh-Mason’s new recording from Decca Records, which is already a bestseller on Amazon.com and elsewhere, and has topped the U.S. pop charts. (There are also many performances by him on YouTube.)
Unfortunately, The Ear was disappointed by the mixed results.
The cellist’s playing is certainly impressive for its technique and tone. But in every piece, he is joined by the City of Birmingham Orchestra or its cello section. The collaboration works exceptionally well with the Cello Concerto No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
However, so many of the other works seem too orchestrated and overly arranged. So much of the music becomes thick and muddy, just too stringy. The Ear wanted to hear more of the young cellist and less of the backup band.
One also has to wonder if the recording benefits from being a mixed album with a program so full of crossovers, perhaps for commercial reasons and perhaps to reach a young audience. There is a klezmer piece, “Evening of the Roses” as well as a reggae piece, “No Woman, No Cry” by Bob Marley and the famous song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.
In addition, there are the familiar “The Swan” from “The Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens and two pieces by the inspiring cellist referred to in the title of the recording, Pablo (or Pau in Catalan) Casals (below).
A great humanist and champion of democracy who spent most of his career in exile from dictator Franco’s Spain, Casals used the solo “The Birds” as a signature encore. Played solo, it is a poignant piece — just as Yo-Yo Ma played it as an encore at the BBC Proms, which is also on YouTube). But here it simply loses its simplicity and seems overwhelmed.
Clearly, Sheku Kanneh-Mason is a musician of great accomplishment and even greater promise who couldn’t have wished for better publicity to launch a big career than he received from the royal wedding. He handles celebrity well and seems a star in the making, possibly even the next Yo-Yo Ma, who has also done his share of film scores and pop transcriptions
But when it comes to the recording studio, a smaller scale would be better. Sometimes less is more, and this is one of those times. (Listen to his beautiful solo playing and his comments in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
To take the full measure of his musicianship, The Ear is anxious to hear Kanneh-Mason in solo suites by Johann Sebastian Bach and concertos by Antonio Vivaldi; in sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms; in concertos by Antonin Dvorak and Edward Elgar; and in much more standard repertory that allows comparison and is less gimmicky.
Did you hear Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s live performance at the royal wedding? What did you think?
And if you have heard his latest recording, what do you think of that?
Do you think Sheku Kanne-Mason is the next Yo-Yo Ma?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Madison Opera’s “Florencia en el Amazonas” took listeners on an enchanting and moving voyage into love and fine singing of Puccini-like lyricism
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By Jacob Stockinger
Larry Wells – who is The Opera Guy for The Well-Tempered Ear blog – went to the recent production of the Madison Opera and filed this review, with photos by James Gill:
By Larry Wells
I looked forward enough to Madison Opera’s premiere production of Daniel Catán’s Spanish-language “Florencia en el Amazonas” that I attended both performances at Overture Hall this past weekend.
Based on repeated hearings of the recording and numerous favorable reviews of other productions, I was fairly certain that I would be in for a treat. I was not disappointed.
The action takes place on a boat on the Amazon heading for Manaus where the title character Florenica (below), an opera singer of high repute, is to perform.
Other passengers (below), unaware of her presence onboard, also have the opera house as their destination in order to hear her sing.
Rosalba, her unauthorized biographer, and Paula and Alvaro, a bickering older couple, are joined onboard by the Captain, his nephew Arcadio, and a Puckish character Riolobo, who acts as narrator and supervises the magic in this tale of magical realism.
Below, starting at the top and moving clockwise, are: Kanopy Dancers, Ashraf Sewailam (The Captain), Mackenzie Whitney (Arcadio), Rachel Sterrenberg (Rosalba), Elizabeth Caballero (Florencia Grimaldi), Adriana Zabala (Paula), Levi Hernandez (Alvaro) and Nmon Ford (Riolobo)
The boat (our life) floats along the Amazon (life itself) in this parable of longing, regret, the fickleness of love, love lost and regained, and transformation.
Aiding in the unfolding of the tale are water sprites, referred to at times as Amazons. Six willowy dancers from the Kanopy troupe did not seem particularly Amazonian, but their waving of billowy fabric evoked the river and their retrieving twice from the water careless Rosalba’s precious manuscript added to the magic.
Riolobo and the sprites also bring Alvaro back to life after he appears to drown during a storm. (We should be attentive to water sprites since Dvorak’s “Rusalka,” which also features these denizens, is on the schedule for next year’s season.)
And, in the end, just when you think that all conflicts have been resolved and love is at hand, the boat reaches Manaus only to find it impossible to make landfall due not only to cholera but also to rabies, scurvy, leprosy and beriberi. Florencia’s transformation into a butterfly (below) ends the voyage.
This odd but magical plot is a vehicle for lush, rhapsodic music by a Mexican composer whose life ended too soon. The orchestral and vocal writing featured soaring melodies, which at times reminded me of Puccini had his life extended further into the 20th century. The orchestral writing continually evokes the river and flowing water, reminding me of music of the Impressionists.
John DeMain ably led the wonderfully sounding Madison Symphony Orchestra. He once again proved himself to be a master of pacing, tempo and dynamics.
The opera was very evenly cast. Nmon Ford (below top on right), as Riolobo, had a rich baritone voice and an impressive physicality. His transformation at the end of the first act into a feather-clad river spirit (below bottom) was hypnotic.
As Rosalba, Rachel Sterrenberg (below, top right), who made a memorable appearance last season as the wife Chan in “Charlie Parker’s Yardbird,” was a soprano of great flexibility who rendered her character’s opulent melodic lines with mounting ecstasy. Hers was a thrilling performance.
Her foil, full-voiced tenor Mackenzie Whitney (below, bottom left) as Arcadio, produced some of the most Puccini-like moments of sheer soaring lyricism.
Their duets, including a rather dark anti-love duet, were highlights of the work. Catán’s writing for mixed voices is inspired, and all of the ensemble numbers – duets, a quintet, a septet – are entrancing.
Baritone Levi Hernandez as Alvaro and mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala as his wife, Paula, had moments of bickering and moments of tenderness. His robust vocalization perfectly complemented the creamy richness of hers. Zabala’s second act lament was very touching.
Bass Ashraf Sewailam, in his debut appearance with Madison Opera, produced some of the best singing of the show. He was both profound and lyrical with a total lack of affectation. His acting was subtle, and his outstanding performance demands his return.
Elizabeth Caballero as the diva Florencia Grimaldi was impassioned, focused yet fluid, sumptuous and rapturous. Her ravishing singing, particularly during her metamorphosis — heard in another production in the YouTube video at the bottom — was truly moving.
The set, lighting, projections and costumes were all understated and perfectly blended. The only false step was what appeared to be coffins flying through the air out of Manaus. It took me a moment to realize they were intended to be floating in the river.
The audience seemed enchanted and moved by the opera. I was, too. Let’s have more works like this.
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Classical music: ECM Records finally streams its entire catalogue of award-winning artists and recordings
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By Jacob Stockinger
The critically acclaimed and award-winning independent label ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) was founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by the Grammy-winning producer Manfred Eicher (below).
Known for its penchant for the contemporary and even avant-garde, Eicher’s label was nonetheless a conservative hold-out when it came to the newer technology of digital streaming.
The old technology has its points besides superior sound quality. When you got an ECM CD, you usually also got one of their terrific black-and-white photographs, often a square-format landscape, as a cover. (ECM even published a book of its photographic covers.)
But as of this past Friday, ECM finally gave into the inevitable and streamed its entire catalogue. Its rationale was that it was more important for its music and musicians to be heard than to remain loyal to certain platforms.
ECM also cited the pressure from unauthorized uploads to YouTube and bootleg versions of its recordings as the reason for the decision.
So as of yesterday, ECM, which has won many awards for individual titles and artists, will be available on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal and other streaming services.
ECM is known for its popular and critically acclaimed jazz artists including pianist Keith Jarrett (below, of “The Köln Concert” or The Cologne Concert) and saxophonist Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble (“Officium”). But it also included classical chamber music groups such as the Keller Quartet, the Trio Medieval, the Danish Quartet and others.
ECM is also known for championing contemporary classical composers (Arvo Pärt, below, who is the most performed contemporary composer, as well as Tigur Mansurian, Lera Auerbach, Gyorgy Kurtag and Valentin Silvestrov among others) and some outstanding crossover classical musicians, including Jarrett, a jazz great who has also recorded Bach, Handel and Shostakovich on both piano and harpsichord.
The Ear especially likes violist Kim Kashkashian and Harvard pianist Robert Levin (a frequent performer at the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival) in sonatas of Brahms. He is also fond of Alexei Lubimov in various piano recitals as well as the many recordings of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Janacek and Robert Schumann by the superb pianist Andras Schiff (below). In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Schiff in a live performance of the Gigue from Bach’s Keyboard Partita No. 3.)
And there are many, many more artists and recordings worth your attention. Here is a link to an extensive sampler on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ECMRecordsChannel
Who are your favorite ECM artists?
What are your favorite ECM recordings?
What ECM downloads do you recommend?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Madison Opera announces its 2017-18 season
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Opera has announced its 2017-18 season, which features a classic popular opera and two Madison Opera premieres.
The season opens in November with Carmen by Georges Bizet, followed by The Abduction from the Seraglio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in February, and then Florencia en el Amazonas by Mexican composer Daniel Catan (1949-2011) in April. The season concludes with the 17th annual Opera in the Park in July.
“I am delighted with this new season,” says Kathryn Smith (below, in a a photo by James Gill), Madison Opera’s general director. “Carmen was the piece that made me fall in love with opera in high school, so I always look forward to sharing it with our audience. The Abduction from the Seraglio has some of Mozart’s most virtuoso vocal writing, with an innate charm and comedy that is perfect for winter. Florencia en el Amazonas is quite simply ravishing, both in its music and its story. The season truly has something for everyone in it.”
The company’s 57th season begins in November with Georges Bizet’s Carmen in Overture Hall. One of the most popular operas in the world, Carmen was a flop when it premiered in Paris in 1875, but within a few years was widely acclaimed.
The story of a Spanish gypsy determined to live a life on her own terms, Bizet’s masterpiece blends passion, seduction, jealousy, dance, and even a little law-breaking, all set to one of the most famous scores ever composed.
Aleks Romano makes her Madison Opera debut in the title role; Cecilia Violetta López makes her debut as Micaëla. Sean Panikkar (Opera in the Park 2014) returns to Madison Opera as Don José, the soldier who falls in love with Carmen; Corey Crider (Sweeney Todd) returns as Escamillo, the toreador. E. Loren Meeker directs this traditional staging in her Madison Opera debut, with John DeMain conducting members of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
February brings the Madison Opera PREMIERE of Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, the composer’s first major operatic success, done in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center. Set in the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century, the opera starts with a Spanish nobleman arriving at a pasha’s palace to rescue his fiancée, who was captured during a shipwreck.
Together, they find that different cultures need not always clash, and romantic longings come in many forms. Comedy blends with the underpinnings of the Enlightenment in a masterpiece that is the perfect blend of humor and humanity.
Mozart’s brilliant score calls for virtuoso singing in every role. Caitlin Lynch (Don Giovanni) returns to sing Konstanze; the soprano has sung major Mozart roles at the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera this season. Also returning are Matt Boehler (below, Fidelio, Don Giovanni) as Osmin and Eric Neuville (Little Women) as Pedrillo.
Making their debuts are Ashly Neumann as Blonde and David Walton as Belmonte. Alison Moritz makes her Madison Opera directorial debut; John DeMain conducts.
Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catán (below top), who also turned the movie “Il Postino” into an opera, concludes the MainStage season in Overture Hall.
Inspired by the writings of the Colombian Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez (below bottom), Catán’s gorgeously lyrical opera was the first Spanish-language opera to be premiered in the U.S. and has been performed worldwide since its 1996 premiere. (You hear the accessibility of Catan’s music in the opening scene that is in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Set in the early 20th century, the story tells of Florencia Grimaldi, a famous opera singer, as she embarks anonymously on a voyage down the Amazon River, hoping to be reunited with her lover she left behind. On the boat with her are a young journalist; a couple feeling the strain of their long marriage; the boat’s captain; the captain’s nephew, who falls in love with the journalist; and a man who is a rather mystical presence.
Returning to Madison Opera in the title role is Elizabeth Caballero (below, Don Giovanni, La Traviata), who was acclaimed for this role at New York City Opera. Nmon Ford (Tosca) returns as the mysterious Riolobo; Rachel Sterrenberg (Charlie Parker’s Yardbird) sings Rosalba, the journalist; Adriana Zabala (The Tales of Hoffmann) sings Paula; Mackenzie Whitney (La Bohème) sings Arcadio, the captain’s nephew; and Levi Hernandez (The Magic Flute in 2006) sings Alvaro. Ashraf Sewailam makes his Madison Opera debut as the Capitán.
Kristine McIntyre (below, The Tales of Hoffmann, Dead Man Walking) returns to direct this unique-to-Madison production, which features members of Kanopy Dance and choreography by Lisa Thurrell. John DeMain conducts.
Subscriptions for the 2017-18 season will be available in late April at madisonopera.org and by phone at (608) 238-8085. Subscribers save up to 15% off single ticket prices.
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Classical music: Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle” wins two Golden Globe awards. But Season 2 — which is now available for streaming and features real-life famous longhairs — gets a mixed review from The New York Times
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By Jacob Stockinger
“Sex, drugs and classical music”?
It was easy to underestimate the Amazon comedy sitcom “Mozart in the Jungle” as just a commercial low-brow, rock and roll take on the high-brow world of classical music.
Until two weeks ago.
That when the TV comedy series, which portrays the trials and tribulations of being a classical musician in today’s pop-oriented culture, won two Golden Globe awards.
One award went to the accomplished Mexican actor, director and producer Gabriel Garcia Bernal (below) for the Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical. He plays Rodrigo, an orchestra conductor.
The second award went to the show as Best TV Series for Comedy or Musical.
Will any Emmys follow?
The second season has been ready for streaming since Dec. 30. And winning the two Golden Globe awards is sure to spike viewer interest. (You can see the trailer for Season 2 in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Although there are some fine things to admire in Season 2, apparently it loses steam and gets repetitive.
At least that is the assessment of music critic Zachary Woolfe, who writes for The New York Times.
One interesting sidelight of Season 2 is that several big-name classical musicians make a cameo appearance on the show.
They include the conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the phenom music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic:
The flamboyant Chinese superstar pianist Lang-Lang:
And mainstream American piano star Emanuel Ax, who will perform with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in March. (NOTE: Ax was to play the Symphonic Variations by Cesar Franck and the Burleske by Richard Strauss. That program has now been changed to the Piano Concerto No. 4 by Ludwig van Beethoven.)
To The Ear, the show still sounds like fun – if you can get past or overlook the endless sense of crisis.
Which, curiously, also just happens to be how one might feel about the real-life, non-fiction world of classical music these days with its focus on declining attendance, fewer recordings, labor strife and programming.
Here is a link to the review:
Tell us in the COMMENT section what you think of either the first season or the second season, if you have already started to watch it.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Actor, Amazon, Amazon Prime, America, Arts, Axel Strauss, Beethoven, China, Classical music, comedy, conductor, critic, director, Emanuel Ax, Emmy, Emmy award, Franck, Gabriel Garcia Bernal, Golden Globe, Gustavo Dudamel, high-brow, Jacob Stockinger, Lang Lang, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic, low-brow, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mexico, Mozart, Mozart in the Jungle, Music, musical, New York Times, Orchestra, Piano, pop, producer, Rock, rock 'n roll, rock and roll, streaming, Television, TV, United States, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube, Zachary Woolfe
Classical music: Amazon’s new TV comedy “Mozart in the Jungle — Sex, Drugs and Classical Music” depicts the problems of classical musicians in New York City, and gets cheers and jeers from critics for The New York Times and National Public Radio.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Bankrupt symphony orchestras and opera companies?
Highly trained but out-of-work classical musicians?
The unfortunate realities of classical music in contemporary American culture have made their way into a fictional comedy.
Fresh off its surprise win in the Golden Globe awards, Amazon Studios is broadcasting an unusual comedy series based on the behind-the-scenes problems and trials of classical musicians in New York City.
It is called “Mozart in the Jungle” – a title that reminds The Ear of the moving scenes in the classic film “Out of Africa” where recordings of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — including the sublime middle movement of the Clarinet Concerto — are played by multiple Academy Award-winner Meryl Streep and Robert Redford on a phonograph in the midst of the African bush.
Below is a photo by Nicole Rivelli of Amazon Studios that shows Gael García Bernal (right), Bernadette Peters and Malcolm McDowell starring in the classical music comedy series “Mozart in the Jungle.” You can see the trailer, which has a lot of details and bacground and which already has more than 1 million hits, for the new streaming series in a YouTube video at the bottom.
But this urbane comedy take gets mixed marks for its realistic depiction of the difficulties of the classical music scene in New York City, which could easily apply elsewhere.
Here is the critique from NPR of National Public Radio by Anastasia Tsioulcas:
And here is the review by critic and reviewer Zachary Woolfe for The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/arts/television/mozart-in-the-jungle-an-amazon-series.html?_r=0
If you have watched “Mozart in the Jungle, let us know what you think.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Original Score, Africa, Amazon, and Classical Music, Arts, Bernadette Peters, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, clarinet, Classical music, comedy, drugs, Gael García Bernal, Golden Globe Award, Hollywood, Jacob Stockinger, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Malcolm McDowell, Meryl Streep, Mozart, Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Music, New York City, New York Symphony Orchestra, New York Times, NPR, Oboe, Orchestra, Out of Africa, phonograph, Robert Redford, sex, Television, TV, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Leon Fleisher, the inspirational pianist and teacher who died a week ago, had ties to Madison
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Famed American pianist and teacher Leon Fleisher (below, in a photo by Chris Hartlove), who also conducted, died of cancer at 92 last Sunday, Aug. 2.
Wisconsin Public Radio, like many other media outlets including National Public Radio (NPR) and most major newspapers and television stations, devoted a lot of time to tributes to and remembrances of Fleisher.
That is as it should be. If any musician deserved it, Fleisher did.
Fleisher (1928-2020) was a titan who became, over many years and despite major personal setbacks — stemming from an almost paralyzed right hand — a lot more than a keyboard virtuoso.
But despite lots of air time, less well covered has been his relationship to Madison audiences, who had the pleasure of seeing and hearing him several times in person.
In 2003 and then again in 2016 (below top) — at age 88 — Fleisher performed with the University of Wisconsin’s Pro Arte String Quartet (below bottom).
Both times he played the Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, a masterpiece of chamber music. He and his wife, Katherine Jacobson, also performed a joint recital at the Wisconsin Union Theater in 2009.
Fleisher felt at home in Baroque, Classical, Romantic and even modern music. He was renowned as an interpreter of Brahms. Indeed, his early and widely acclaimed recordings of both Brahms piano concertos as well as of the Waltzes and Handel Variations remain landmarks.
Once he was again playing with both hands, Fleisher also recorded the piano quintet for Deutsche Grammophon with the Emerson String Quartet, another frequent and favorite performer in Madison. (You can hear the finale in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is a this blog’s review of his last Madison appearance: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/?s=Leon+Fleisher
Fleisher liked performing with the Pro Arte, and therein lies another historical tale.
His most influential teacher — the famed pianist Artur Schnabel, with whom the San Francisco-born Fleisher went to study in Europe when he was just 9 — also played often with the earlier members of Pro Arte Quartet. Together they recorded Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet by Franz Schubert, and that recording is still in the catalogue and available on Amazon.
Fleisher discusses studying with Schnabel in his entertaining and informative 2010 autobiography “My Nine Lives” (below).
Fleisher was a child prodigy who made his name while still young. Famed French conductor Pierre Monteux – who conducted the world premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” in Paris — called Fleisher the “musical find of the century.” Fleisher made his concerto debut at 16 with the New York Philharmonic under Monteux.
Fleisher was just 36 and preparing for a tour with the Cleveland Orchestra and George Szell – a perfect pairing and a conductor with whom he recorded all the Beethoven and Brahms concertos among may others – when he found he could not uncurl the last three fingers of his right hand.
Various diagnoses and causes were offered, and many cures were tried. In the end, it seems like that it was a case of focal dystonia that was caused by over-practicing, especially octaves. “I pounded ivory six or seven hours a day,” Fleisher later said.
After a period of depression and soul-searching, Fleisher then focused on performing music for the left hand; on conducting; and especially on teaching for more than 60 years at the Peabody Institute, located in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University.
There he helped shaped the career of many other famous pianists, including André Watts, Yefim Bronfman and Jonathan Biss (below, in a photo by Julian Edelstein), who played when Fleisher received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007. (All three have performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.)
Here is an inspiring overview of Fleisher’s life and career from the Peabody Institute: https://peabody.jhu.edu/faculty/leon-fleisher/
And here is another short biography from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Fleisher
Here are three especially noteworthy obituaries:
NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2020/08/02/702978476/leon-fleisher-the-pianist-who-reinvented-himself-dies-at-92
The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/02/arts/music/leon-fleisher-dead.html
The Washington Post, written by critic Anne Midgette who worked with Fleisher on his memoir: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/leon-fleisher-sublime-pianist-with-one-hand-or-two-dies-at-92/2020/08/02/c7c98f90-527d-11e6-b7de-dfe509430c39_story.html
The Ear has always found Fleisher’s playing remarkable for its technical fluency combined with the utmost clarity and exacting but flexible sense of rhythm. He always managed to make a piece of music sound just right, as it was intended to sound. His musicality always seemed innate and perfectly natural.
Sample it for yourself. The Ear thinks the performance of all five Beethoven concertos with George Szell still sets a high standard with its exciting, upbeat tempi, its exemplary balance between piano and orchestra, and its exceptional engineering.
The affable Fleisher will long remain an inspiration not only for his playing and teaching, but also for his determination to overcome personal obstacles and go on to serve music — not just the piano.
Did you ever hear Leon Fleisher play live or in recordings? What did you think?
Do you have a comment to leave about the legacy of Fleisher?
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