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Leon Fleisher

Leon Fleisher, The Pianist Who Reinvented Himself, Dies At 92

Pianist Leon Fleisher eventually resumed playing with both hands after an injury sidelined him at age 36. Chris Hartlove/Provided by the artist hide caption

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Chris Hartlove/Provided by the artist

Deceptive Cadence

Leon Fleisher, The Pianist Who Reinvented Himself, Dies At 92

The beloved pianist was a young lion of his generation until a hand injury forced him to rethink his relationship to music.

Leon Fleisher, The Pianist Who Reinvented Himself, Dies At 92

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The Great War At 100: Music Of Conflict And Remembrance

Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein (who later became an American citizen) lost an arm in World War I. He commissioned composers including Maurice Ravel to write pieces for the left hand alone. Bettmann/CORBIS hide caption

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Bettmann/CORBIS

Deceptive Cadence

The Great War At 100: Music Of Conflict And Remembrance

One hundred years after the start of World War I, hear a range of pop and classical music from artists of the era. Some music reflects the war's violence, some gives solace.

The Great War At 100: Music Of Conflict And Remembrance

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Music

Leah Fleisher Cures What Ails Musicians

Pianist Leon Fleisher is perhaps the most well-known case of a musician being sidelined by a debilitating injury. After being unable to play with his right hand, he re-invented himself as a left-handed player and conductor. Leah Fleisher, his daughter and a physical therapist, tries to make sure that doesn't happen to other musicians.

Leah Fleisher Cures What Ails Musicians

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Classics in Concert

Leon Fleisher: Kennedy Center Honoree in Recital

Seventy-nine-year-old Leon Fleisher was named a Kennedy Center Honoree today. Fleisher was one of the finest pianists of his generation. But then tragedy hit. He suffered a hand injury that changed his career and his life. After years of playing with just one hand, Fleisher is back with both.

Hear Fleisher play Schubert in concert

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79th Annual Academy Awards

'Two Hands,' an Oscar Nominee with Heart

Nathaniel Kahn's film Two Hands, a film about pianist Leon Fleisher's 30-year struggle to return to the concert stage, is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.

'Two Hands,' an Oscar Nominee with Heart

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Music

'Performance Today' at 20: A Look Back

Twenty years of programs, two hours a day, every day. That's around 45-thousand performances, recorded in places as remote as alpine ski villages in South Korea, to the great cathedrals of music in Paris, to chamber music festivals in the hills of New Mexico, to NPR's own Studio 4-A. It's impossible to squeeze 20 years into two hours, so here are some sweet memories, thrilling performances, and even a few flukes.

'Performance Today' at 20: A Look Back

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