I received a news from Sonny:
FIRST DIGITAL RELEASE OF SIX RECORDINGS BY EMINENT PIANIST LEON FLEISHER PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE ONLY ON LP.
fleisher coverThe Six Full-Length Releases Include Fleisher’s Readings of Schubert, Debussy, Ravel, Mozart, Liszt, Copland and Brahms In Celebration of the Pianist’s 80th Birthday.
In honor of pianist Leon Fleisher’s 80th birthday on July 23rd, Sony Classical has released for the first time in digital format six full-length recordings, made between 1954 and 1963 that have only been previously available complete on LP. These recordings document Fleisher’s extraordinary artistry in the solo and chamber repertoire before a neurological affliction known as focal dystonia rendered two fingers of his right hand immobile in 1965.
The six recordings are:
Schubert: Sonata in B-Flat Major, D.960 / Ländler – Leon Fleisher, piano (original LP release 1956)
Debussy: Suite bergamasque / Ravel: Sonatine / Valses nobles et sentimentales / Alborado del gracioso – Leon Fleisher, piano (original LP release 1959)
Mozart: Sonata in C Major, K.330 / Sonata in E-Flat Major, K.282 / Rondo in D Major, K. 485 – Leon Fleisher, piano (original LP release 1960)
Liszt: Sonata in B Minor / Weber: Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 70 / Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 – Leon Fleisher, piano (original LP release 1960)
Copland: Piano Sonata / Sessions: From My Diary / Kirchner: Piano Sonata / Rorem: Three Barcarolles – Leon Fleisher, piano (original LP release 1963)
Brahms: Quintet for Piano and Strings in F Minor, Op. 34 – Leon Fleisher, piano / Juilliard String Quartet (original LP release 1963)
The re-releases are available from iTunes, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, Zune and other major digital outlets. iTunes is the only digital vendor to carry the original liner notes by Konrad Wolff and Charles Burr. Physical CDs, complete with each album’s original cover art and liner notes, are only available through ArkivMusic.
Fleisher has also recorded an exclusive series of free podcasts for Sony BMG Masterworks, available on iTunes. In the series, he recounts his early successes and stumbling blocks, most significantly his battle with focal dystonia. He explains his art beautifully but also brings a refreshingly human element to his often-funny interactions with some of the most formidable artists of the 20th century, including Artur Schnabel, George Szell and Leonard Bernstein. To hear these podcasts go to sonybmgmasterworks.com/podcast/ or visit iTunes.
This sounds very interesting…