A Two-Handed Miracle

As I watched the pianist in last night’s concert, I quickly noticed that most of the time he was holding the little finger on his right hand curled up under his hand, and only occasionally it reached out and struck a note. It was Leon Fleischer and I had forgotten about his struggles to regain the use of his right hand. If last night was any indication, he has made a remarkable comeback.

A friend had given us tickets to see the London Philharmonic at Strathmore Hall last night. It’s a long way for us to go, but it was well worth the effort to get there. We found ourselves sitting in the 5th row of the orchestra, just feet from the stage, in this beautiful relatively new concert hall.

The young Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski took the orchestra through Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, a work he failed to complete before his death. It had its exciting moments, but paled in comparison to the next piece.

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 was written at the height of his career. When Leon Fleischer came on stage to play, I suddenly realized that he is an 80-year-old man. But from the minute he sat down on the piano bench and the orchestra played the opening lines, what was completely obvious was how much he loved the piece. Every single note, every single chord was in his head. As he played, he actually moved his mouth as if he were singing along.


His fingers glided over the keys as he executed run after run with perfection. But I was noticing his strangely tucked up little finger and the fact that when he did a trill, he used both hands.

It was only later that I was reminded of what a miracle it was for him to be playing the Mozart concerto at all. In early 1965 Fleisher began suffering from a malfunction of his right hand: the ring and little fingers curled uncontrollably to his palm. The problem was diagnosed in 1991 as focal dystonia, a condition related to repetitive-stress syndrome, which not infrequently affects musicians.

This condition didn’t stop this man, who had been a child prodigy, from playing. He played works written for left hand only, some of which were composed specifically for him. But then in 2004 with the help of some new treatments, he began playing with two hands once again.

Perhaps the joy that radiated from this pianist as he played was his thankfulness for regaining the use of his crippled hand.

The second half of the concert focused on two modern pieces, both of which contributed to 2001: A Space odyssey. Atmospheres by Ligeti is unique because it is devoid of any of the traditional language of music -- no themes, no form, no harmony, no rhythm. Huge blocks of sound, some discordant, characterize the 9-minute piece. It was immediately followed by Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Much of this concert will disappear from my mind. But I will forever remember sitting in the 5th row and seeing Leon Fleischer play Mozart with both hands. What a treat!