Leon Fleisher - Milestones Of A Piano Legend: Original Albums

Leon Fleisher, born in San Francisco in 1928 as to a father who emigrated from Russia and a Polish mother, was one of the greatest hopes of the American concert scene. His critics were impressed by his Schubert recordings and Brahms' Handel Variations, and the collaboration with George Szell and his Cleveland Orchestra brought awards and bestsellers. Fleisher's meteoric rise was a source of enthusiasm even for his listeners in the US, as accustomed as they were to superlatives. But in the end the pianist paid a high price for this: a gradually increasing paralysis of the right hand forced him to abandon his concert activities. As a conductor, university lecturer and specialist for piano music for the left hand, Fleisher fought back and, after surgery, repeatedly appeared before a concert audience from 1982 on. The number of recordings from the few years of his early triumphs is understandably quite small. All the more valuable is the encounter with this exceptional pianist on the 10 CDs of this collection.

- First big collection of recordings by this exceptional pianist

- Live recordings of his performances in Germany

- All Beethoven concerts in reference recordings