Leon Fleisher - The Complete Album Collection
Leon Fleisher is considered a living legend among the coterie of distinguished American pianists who emerged in the late forties and early fifties. Students consider Fleisher the "Obi-Wan Kenobi of the piano," and travel from all over the globe come to work with him or even just sit on his master classes, just as pianists in the first half of the 20th century sought out Fleisher's youthful teacher and mentor Artur Schnabel.
In a certain sense, the present complete collection of Fleisher's recordings for Sony Classical and its predecessors (Epic and Columbia Masterworks) demarcates the personal and musical twists and turns of his career journey. We hear Fleisher soon after his Brussels victory, followed by his now iconic Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Schumann and Grieg concerto collaborations with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, along with highly acclaimed solo recordings. Two discs represent Fleisher at the peak of his later career playing concertos and recitals for the left hand. Lastly, Fleisher's formidable gifts as a Mozart player as revealed in his C major K 503 concerto recording yielded further bounty with his two-handed return a half-century later in the K 242, K 414 and K 488 concertos featured on the collection's most recent release.
DISC 1 Schubert: Sonata in B-Flat Major; Schubert: L¤ndler, Op. 171
DISC 2 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op. 43; Franck: Symphonic Variations; Delius: Irmelin-Prelude
DISC 3 Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a theme of Handel, Op. 24; Waltzes, Op. 39
DISC 4 Hindemith: The Four Temperaments; Hindemith: Five Pieces, Op. 44, No. 4; Hindemith: Funeral Music for Viola and Strings
DISC 5 Brahms: Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 Leon Fleisher - The Cleveland Orchestra - George Szell
DISC 6 Debussy: Suite Bergamasque; Ravel: Sonatine; Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales; Ravel: Alborada del Gracioso (from "Miroirs")
DISC 7 Beethoven: Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58; Mozart: Concerto No. 25 in C Major (K. 503)
DISC 8 Mozart: Sonata in C Major (K. 330); Sonata in E-Flat Major (K. 282); Rondo in D Major (K. 485)
DISC 9 Liszt: Sonata in B Minor; Weber: Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 70; Weber: Invitation to the dance, Op. 65
DISC 10 Grieg: Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16; Schumann: Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54
DISC 11 Chamber Music from Marlboro: Brahms: Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52; Schubert: The Shepherd on the rock, Op. 129
DISC 12 Beethoven: Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15
DISC 13 Beethoven: Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major, Op. 19; Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58
DISC 14 Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37
DISC 15 Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 in E Flat Major, Op. 73
DISC 16 Brahms: Concerto No. 2, Op. 83
DISC 17 Aaron Copland: Piano Sonata; Roger Sessions: From my diary; Kirchner: Piano Sonata; Rorem: Three Barcarolles
DISC 18 Brahms: Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34; Leon Fleisher - Juilliard String Quartet
DISC 19 Schubert: Fantasy in C Major, Op. 15 (D. 760); Piano Sonata in A Major, Op. 120 (D. 664)
DISC 20 Piano Works for the Left Hand: Tak¡cs, Saint-Saens, Saxton, Bach, Blumenfeld, Scriabin, Godowsky
DISC 21 Piano Concertos for the Left Hand: Ravel, Prokofiev, Britten
DISC 22 Korngold, Schmidt: Music for Strings and Piano Left Hand
DISC 23 Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 7, 12, 23