Customer Reviews

The Journey

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Glad to note the recording's just that touch less distant and reverberant than "Two Hands" (far from dry!) that makes this sound so much like Fleisher does in concert, if closer, perhaps more ideally intimate than in real life. If anything Fleisher's playing now sounds even more technically secure again (jaw-dropping, actually, given his life "journey"), musically of course, I've become so partial to anything he's recorded at any stage in his career, I dare not say much: I can see why one critic has already referred to his interpretation of Mozart's K. 282 Sonata as "fussy" - it is indeed intricately detailed. So what? The better the stereo system one uses to listen to this, the more it becomes apparent no grace note's running against the flow - nothing wrong with seeing old warehorses in a new light, or is there? As to the Bach pieces, comparing the 'Traumatic' (!) Fantasy and Fugue to recordings by Edwin Fischer and Wilhelm Kempff (live on BBC Legends), I can only say that hearing it in another great interpretation is again improving my appreciation of what has always been some of the most fascinating, if never the easiest Bach to me to fully grasp. It's fascinating that Fleisher manages once again (as on "Two Hands") to set a mood for the whole disc (right away with Bach's "Arioso: Adagio" from the "On the Departure of a Brother" Capriccio, the whole of which he plays with genuine simplicity) and yet give each of these diverse compositions its due. The Bagatelle wrongly titled "Für Elise" receives one of its finest interpretations here (right now comparing it to Bruce Hungerford's more "daring" reading), for example. As happens to me so often with Fleisher, I'm also increasingly impressed with Stravinsky's Serenade, a piece I may so far not have taken seriously enough. In short, the riches here are once again far too many to enumerate...

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

I love Leon Fleisher for his lyrical interpretations of Bach and his amazing ability to perform Chopin. On this particular album there is a lot of Bach and a taste of Chopin. The Chopin is very reminiscent of Arthur Rubenstein and this is something I like very much about this artist.

In general, Fleisher brings an amazing sensitivity to his piano playing whatever the particular piece. His tone is simply gorgeous and it really shines through on every piece. Playing Mozart is not necessarily his strength, but this album does not devote a lot of time to this composer. His interpretations of Beethoven and Stravinsky are very well done.

Fleisher is certainly not a minor player on the concert stage even after his extensive layoff. Both this album and "Two Hands" are excellent even if you have recordings all of these pieces already. I play the piano seriously myself and I am thoroughly satisfied with this purchase.

This 2CD set includes interesting interview with Fleisher talking about each piece recorded here, about his hand injury and his life in general. He says, dystonia gave him an opportunity to widen his horizon and enriched his life through his journey of new discoveries.

Each piece on this disc reflects that positive, life affirming view, and is filled with the pure joy of music making. I like particularly Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue and Capriccio in B-flat "On The Departure of a Brother," played with sublime simplicity, and Chopin's Berceuse played with incredibly subtle rubato and tonal intricacy. Acoustics has improved a lot compared to The Two Hands. Stravinsky's kaleidoscopic piano music is very interesting and superbly played.

Unfortunately I didn't know of Fleisher until I purchased his first recording using both hands since his physical improvement. This follows in that he has that wonderful phraseology that is not the usual and every note is given its due, not just skimmed over. Really loved the recordings.