All the Things You Are

Album review

Eighty-five years old when this recording was released in 2014, American pianist Leon Fleisher has lived an unusual story. Acclaimed as one of the most well-rounded pianists in the world in the 1950s, he was forced to stop playing in 1964 when his right hand was afflicted by focal dystonia. He reinvented himself as a musician: as a conductor, and eventually as a specialist in piano music for the left hand. After nearly four decades, treatments with botox made it possible for him to play once again with both hands, but he has continued to play left-hand works. This little album exemplifies his recitals of the 21st century: it is made up mostly of works for the left hand, with one piece, Dina Koston's Thoughts of Evelyn, for both hands. The sheer variety of the left-hand music is the attraction: Fleisher's gifts as a pianist shine through as he explores Brahms' somehow monastic arrangement of the Chaconne from Bach's Partita for solo violin in D minor, BWV 1005, as well as contemporary pieces written to make listeners forget that only the left hand is involved, a couple of classic popular songs (the album title is evocative, but be aware that most of the music is not by Jerome Kern or popular in origin), and an entrancing prelude of Mompou, originally composed for the left hand alone. The program covers the range of territory that makes for a satisfying recital, and the album is a fine capstone to a remarkable career.
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