Baltimore Symphony & Leon Fleisher

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The guard also signed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the direction of surgical steel. The maestro congratulates concertmaster violin solo is Target.

Along Mother Goose the lead singer of the film I see the oil. Wells the housewife rises. And the moment we've heard for the. Life. Or is extraordinary and highly anticipated. By. The Fall. This is PBS the Public Broadcasting Service and. Funding for the Baltimore Symphony and concert is provided by the services

and international diversified services company and by us FMG insurance offering insurance for your business home auto in life through Sixty five hundred independent agents across the USA. Here once again is your host Mr. Tony Randall. Well the launching of Baltimore's new jewels appears to be a resounding success. We've already heard more inaugural over to our house and the Baltimore Symphony. Probably because I know by. Now the tension is tonight as we await the historic We did the. Pianist play on. Time. Left. For the first time.

But one of the most exciting. Of the century. I'm sure you have. And then something happened. Yeah. You know what happened at the time. Doctors did not. They were lumped under the writers room which is very common. Problem. But they don't really know how to deal with it. What would you do. As I look at it now. It

was a combination of factors. OK. Very hard work work if you will. The stress of the career which was going well and it's curious when something goes well like that it's difficult to relax with that you get your luck you don't you don't you know the first thing after my first year with with this touring management warns of a second year slump that didn't happen before. You have to learn to and just take it for what it is and that first recognizes you get cramps. So I would get it in voluntarily. The fifth and fourth fingers of of the right hand would begin to to a girl under

and it would take a very conscious and definite effort for me to to straighten them out so that I could use them again. And after a while this certain amount of energy it takes away from your hand and everything gets wet. What happened I think was that I. I strained my on muscles to the point where they would no longer try. This little mystical lesson and since our muscles were in such a state of contraction any work that I did with my fingers that were traveling up the tendons in the muscle would stop at that point of contraction and then the t would sit in because the work was continuing all the way up to the shoulder the normal muscle. That's what I see as has happened because of

what has that led to the solution of the problem is is a treatment actually a rather recent treatment developed by Bonnie Pruden who back in the 40s I think was a was a health person. The instruments called my old therapy muscle therapy and it's a very deep pressure applied to the muscle. For a period of six seven seconds long every you know few millimeters of the muscle. That helps you can track them. And the muscles it's taken a long time with me because they have been in control they were contracted for 17 years. That muscle was cramped for 17 years. In a sense not like that to that extent but very very tight and anything that I would do that required subtle and fine movement or even you know brushing teeth or handwriting. Writing was was very much affected. Are you in pain. Not

not a constant pain. Not that you would define as Been there was mild discomfort but you wouldn't couldn't define it as pain and did you drive other therapies and try hypnosis. Yes yes yes. I remember not being convinced by that which is that I was under and he said close your eyes again and closed my eyes and said Open your eyes and he would slip the needle through one long long needle. And here it was coming out here and I didn't feel it so I was convinced that it but it didn't relax. No no. Why did you do with that hand to keep it from atrophying than all those. Well I always would would try to work I would practice which wasn't such a hot idea because about three years ago two years ago I worked myself into an actual medical syndrome it's known as carpal tunnel syndrome

which is. Where the ligament here in the wrist gets. Its flexibility and begins to impinge on the median nerve. And I went up to Mass General Hospital in Boston some wonderful doctors for Hochberg and Robert Leffert year and a half ago operated for that. That was something that came about only comparatively recently not really related to the original problem but that had to be taken care of before the original problem could be could be. But now this months all in. Well I was desperate for it. Yes I was I was. You're right it was awful. It was really for about 4 years I was on livable with it ruined my second marriage. When it finally you know when I decided to come out of this funk it led to career number three. Fourth if you count teaching

as a career. I was already into that but led to my starting to conduct which is beyond his joy of the experience. And I was conductor of the resident conductor of the Baltimore Symphony for five years. I've been musical director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra for 12 years. I've just conducted many orchestras in this country and Europe. But you continued to perform live and literature left. But there's a I can remember only two works in left and literature rather. There's a marvelous piece by Benjamin Britten called diversions for left hand 11 dances or variations theme and variations. There are I think somewhere between nine and 12 works. And could you make a career as drums. Would you you could if you wanted to I didn't want to I think by my making above a full time who are learning all this for the door.

I think Philip would have been a kind of admission that that was it for me. And I better go the whole hog. But this peculiar situation that you have had you cut. It's is it can be described as an occupational disease do you honestly get it. Yes yes. You're not the only will absolutely not type this pianist everybody who uses their hands in of in in strenuous but sometimes no subtle ways. Is this the same thing that Gary Graffman is I think you know as far as we can tell it's very similar He's taking a a slightly different approach than than the approach that I took and hopefully it seems to be working. So now what is the story of. FLEISCHER Well the return to two hands just this performance and one other this year.

You must. This won't be your first time drawing and you must have been a year or so and since you felt that you had recovered is that it. Well it's I wouldn't say it's a full recovery yet it's it's I have certain parts of my awareness still have to deal with with this physical aspect. So I want this coming year too. To have the time and the ease of mind without the two handed gauge means to get him back to his knees to where it was or to where I feel totally and completely at ease with him. Thank you John. Kelly the moment is right it. Is the job of these crystals. They are. Life was enjoyable. With my success. Here is Mr. Lay on Fleischer in his dramatic comeback performance

of Frank Symphonic Variations with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. My own. Oh. I.

Oh. Wow.

Because they are lifers back. For the first time. Right. Yes going. To the concert performance with. Both hands. Playing. Symphonic Variations on. The Baltimore Symphony under the direction of. The mosquito. Natalie Natalie

Tom Thompson now foetal. Natalie Natalie for it

throw for eighths. It. Leon. Life goes on.

Well. Not me. Number two. Funding for the Baltimore Symphony in concert was provided by a R.A.

services and international diversified services company. And by USAF and insurance offering insurance for your business auto and life through Sixty five hundred independent agents across the USA. Really. A Masterpiece Theatre presents testament of youth. This week

confronts the nightmares that are. You. Telling you they take it. And the last. Testament of youth this week a masterpiece. Yeah.