Happy birthday, Leon Fleisher, a great artist and a lovely person, here playing a selection from Brahms’ First Piano Concerto – at the behest of Yo-Yo Ma, no less (follow the link below). Fleisher’s recordings of the Brahms concertos, set down with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, over half a century earlier, remain benchmarks.

Focal dystonia curtailed Fleisher’s career as a pianist not long after. But like a plant trimmed back that soon develops fresh tendrils, he then flourished as a conductor, as a champion of the left-hand piano repertoire (there’s much more to it than Ravel’s famous concerto), and especially as a teacher. He has taught at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute, among other places, and held master classes, since 1959.

Thanks in part to Botox injections in his right hand, Fleisher has been able to return to performing two-handed repertoire, to some extent, and has continued to make critically acclaimed recordings. And yes, he also still performs recitals.

Speaking with me in 2014, he expressed gratitude that things developed as they did. If he could do it all over again, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Many happy returns, Leon Fleisher, 92 years-old today!

Impromptu performance of a passage from Brahms:

Fleisher, the young lion:

In 2014, in Brahms’ left-hand arrangement of the Bach Chaconne: