Leon Fleisher on teaching, performing and life

St. Paul, Minn. — Leon Fleisher was a serious teacher long before he developed Focal Dystonia. In fact, this year marks his 51st year of teaching at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.

Since leaving his own teacher, the legendary Artur Schnabel, Fleisher says teaching itself is his greatest teacher.

Leon Fleisher has a Minnesota connection. His wife, Katherine Jacobson Fleisher, who joins him on his latest Mozart concerto CD is from Albert Lea, and she graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield.

These two perform regularly together in concert, often on one piano four hands. Fleisher jokes that he and his wife have invented a new "Tort Law" -- who gets to pedal when performing at the same piano.

During the recording of this new Mozart Concerto CD, Fleisher serves as conductor as well as performer. He sits at one piano facing the orchestra, while his wife faces the audience at the other piano. He admits having his beautiful wife in his line of vision during a performance can be a bit distracting, but mostly, it's just great fun.

Discovering new works is still something Fleisher relishes. He recently was asked to record a work commissioned by the World War I veteran Paul Wittgenstein, who was also a concert pianist. After losing his right arm in during the war, Wittgenstein commissioned several works for left hand alone.

Many of the works Wittgenstein commission didn't satisfy him, including one composed in 1923 by composer Paul Hindemith. Just a few years ago, the Hindemith family rediscovered that work while cleaning out bureau drawers at the composer's home. They immediately called Fleisher to ask him to perform it. Fleisher premiered the work in 2004 with the Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. He's just recorded it with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Christoph Eshenbach.