Leon Fleisher: Two Hands

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Domenico Scarlatti (Composer), Frederic Chopin (Composer), Claude Debussy (Composer), Franz [Vienna] Schubert (Composer), Leon Fleisher (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Leon Fleisher
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, Frederic Chopin, Claude Debussy, Franz [Vienna] Schubert
• Audio CD (August 24, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Indieblue Music
• ASIN: B0002IQHHK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,585 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cantata No. 147, 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben,' BWV 147 (BC A174): Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

2. Cantata No. 208, 'Was mir behagt,' (Hunt Cantata), BWV 208 (BC G1, G3): Sheep May Safely Graze

3. Sonata for keyboard in E major, K. 380 (L. 23) 'Cortège'

4. Mazurka for piano No. 32 in C sharp minor, Op. 50/3, CT. 82

5. Nocturne for piano No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27/2, CT. 115

6. Clair de lune, for piano (Suite Bergamasque No. 3), L. 75/3

7. Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D. 960: Molto moderato

8. Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D. 960: Andante sostenuto

9. Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D. 960: Allegro vivace con delicatezza

10. Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D. 960: Allegro ma non troppo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy on the Swiss cheese, David, September 28, 2004

By 

J. Kouri (Malibu) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leon Fleisher: Two Hands (Audio CD)

Aside from the digressions, I think some of David's points are well taken. However, I don't think he and the other reviewers appreciate this CD for what it is -- a recording of remarkable courage and tenacity by a great performer laid low by something not of his making. The performances on the CD are not perfect, but Fleisher's performances never were. Like Horowitz, we all heard the dirt but decided that the artistry far outweighed its importance. And, yes, Fleisher is no Lipatti, and Lipatti was also a tragic figure who perished in his prime; but it is a matter of unfair polemics to criticize one work because it doesn't measure up to another. Fleisher must be judged ultimately in terms of his performance and what he brings to it. And in this CD, he brings many gifts to his listeners and I don't care a fig about the way he pedals -- he touches us in places where no one else is permitted, and that journey alone is worth the $14.00.

77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Two hands" again on record, September 18, 2004

By 

Allan Brain (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leon Fleisher: Two Hands (Audio CD)

This is a really fine recording of the Schubert sonata,
a favorite of mine and one of the great works for solo
piano. It even gets plugged in one of Kay Redfield Jamison's
books about bi-polar disorder for its emotional complexity.
Everything about this performance of the sonata is compelling
and characterful. Maybe Jamison was on to something--the admixture of serenity and turbulence seems to me to be what
is most attractive about this music.

Until Leon Fleisher played it at Carnegie Hall last year,
and I read the NYT review, I did not know that it had been
in his repertoire, but it makes sense since he was a pupil
of Artur Schnabel, who was a pioneer in performing Schubert
piano sonatas. As it turns out, Fleisher recorded the sonata
for Columbia, probably in the early '50s, and one wonders whether that recording could be better than this one fifty
years later and after all that the pianist has been through.
I doubt it.

Most classical music fans of my generation know the early recordings of Leon Fleisher, particularly those of the
Beethoven and Brahms concertos accompanied by the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell. Yet after a really promising
career, this pianist suffered a neurological disorder with his
right hand and for many years could only play the handful of pieces written for the left hand, and he did them very well.

I don't know all the details of his recovery, but I recall that
he had some modest successes in regular repertory from time to time, but also some setbacks where he had intended to play regular (two-handed) pieces but could not manage to do so, I think in the early to mid-'90s, thirty years after his career stalled.

A few years ago, I heard him play the extremely demanding first concerto by Brahms, and then a year or so later the equally taxing second. Both seemed pretty solid, especially the first concerto, played in Chicago. Critics were mixed in their reviews. The reviews of the NYC Carnegie recital in October of 2003 were very favorable, and while I did not attend that event,
I am really pleased that Fleisher has now recorded the sonata.

The bonus pieces add a little variety to the disc, and there are some interesting remarks by the pianist in the liner notes.

What's more, it seems that some of the proceeds from sales will go to a medical research organization.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relaxed assuredness, May 30, 2005

By 

Daniel Graser "saxgod685" (Wappingers Falls, New York United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leon Fleisher: Two Hands (Audio CD)

Fleisher came to my school a few years ago playing his Carnegie Hall program which is mainly featured on this disc. A friend of mine I think put it best, "He didn't play the piano he worked with it. The fingers moved, the hammers hit the strings and a state of absolute ecstasy descended on the crowd who were absolutely spellbound for the entire recital." In the age of younger and younger "virtuosos" this is a welcome return to the art of serving the music, not vice versa. The Bach pieces act as a warm-up to the rest of the recital. The night pieces by Debussy and Chopin take us into a dark world of colors and beauty. The Schubert sonata finishes the recital with a monumental work played immaculately. The balance between the hands is perfect and the clarity of the notes is the best I have ever heard in a pianist since a brilliant young virtuoso recorded the Brahms concertos with George Szell fifty years ago. Also pick up his left hand recitals as they are just as dazzling. This is easily the best solo piano release of the last half century. Wonderful!