Legendary Pianist Leon Fleisher Performs

Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto

with The Phoenix Symphony

Consummate and Inspirational Musician,

Fleisher Debuts with The Phoenix Symphony

(PHOENIX) - Celebrated pianist Leon Fleisher makes his Phoenix Symphony debut performing Beethoven's monumental "Emperor" Piano Concerto March 20 and 22 at Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix. A rising young virtuoso in the 1950s and 1960s, Fleisher was struck with focal dystonia which crippled his right hand and interrupted his performance career in 1965. Though he continued to perform piano repertoire for the left hand, he regained complete use of his right hand in 2005, enabling him to perform literature previously denied to him. Fleisher's long-awaited debut with The Phoenix Symphony will be under the direction of Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu, also making his first appearance leading The Phoenix Symphony. Thursday evening's performance begins at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday night's performance begins at 8:00 p.m. The weekend concerts are presented with the support of the Physicians for The Phoenix Symphony.

Sought after as one of the world's foremost pianists and conductors, Leon Fleisher is known for his impeccable technique and his series of landmark piano concerto recordings with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. After a successful debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1944, he toured the globe performing recitals and appearing as an orchestral soloist with prominent symphonies. Fleisher's career was suddenly interrupted in 1965 when he was afflicted with focal dystonia, a neurological condition rendering two fingers of his right hand immobile. For decades, he pursued a conducting career while continuing to perform piano repertoire for the left hand.  It was not until 2005, with the advancement of new treatments, that Fleischer was able to overcome the affliction that had plagued him for more than forty years. Fleisher has subsequently been able to revisit the entire piano literature, winning enormous critical acclaim for his first two-hand recording in more than 40 years. Recognized for his outstanding artistry and inspirational life, Mr. Fleisher was bestowed the rank of Commander in the French Order of Arts and Letter, France's highest award of its kind, and was named a 2007 Kennedy Center Honoree.

Guest conductor Hannu Lintu leads The Phoenix Symphony with Mr. Fleisher performing Beethoven's mighty "Emperor" Concerto No. 5. The weekend programs also feature Spotlight Composer Johannes Brahms's Tragic Overture as well as Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4 entitled "The Inextinguishable."

Tickets to hear Leon Fleisher with The Phoenix Symphony range from $22-$71 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602.495.1999 or online at www.phoenixsymphony.org.

These concerts are part of The Phoenix Symphony's 2007-08 Classics Season. Future concerts in this season include "Benedetti Plays Mendelssohn" on April 24-26, "Brahms Third Symphony" on May 15-17, and "Ainadamar" with soprano Dawn Upshaw on May 23 and 24.

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 About pianist Leon Fleisher: In the nearly 40 years since Leon Fleisher's phenomenal keyboard career was so suddenly curtailed, he has divided his time between the piano left-hand repertoire and conducting. Mr. Fleisher's reputation as a conductor was quickly established when he founded the Theatre Chamber Players at the Kennedy Center in 1967 and became Music Director of the Annapolis Symphony in 1970, and solidified with guest conductor appearances with the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Montreal and San Francisco among others. Throughout the decades, he continued to tour as soloist with the world's leading symphony orchestras, performing piano repertoire for the left hand only. Since 2005, and a breakthrough in new treatments, Mr. Fleisher has been playing with both hands again, and won enormous critical acclaim for his first two-hand recording in 40 years, Two Hands. In 2005 Leon Fleisher was named by the French government to the rank of Commander in the French Order of Arts and Letter, the highest rank of its kind, and in 2007 was a Kennedy Center Honoree.

About conductor Hannu Lintu: Hannu Lintu has held artistic director positions with the Helsingborg Symphony, Turku Philharmonic and the Bergen Collegium Musicum Chamber Orchestra. He is a regular guest conductor of the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and was the artistic director of their 2005 Summer Sounds Festival, reflecting his strong commitment to contemporary music. Born in Finland, Hannu Lintu began his musical studies with the cello and piano at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He continued there to study conducting with Eri Klas and Jorma Panula, and later at the Accademia Chigiana in Italy with Myung Whun Chung. Mr. Lintu was first-prize winner at the 1994 Nordic Conductor's Competition in Bergen, Finland.

About The Phoenix Symphony: Celebrating its 60th Anniversary Season, The Phoenix Symphony has been proudly serving the citizens of the Phoenix metropolitan area and Arizona since 1947. What began as an occasional group of musicians performing a handful of concerts each year (in a city of fewer than 100,000 people) today serves more than 300,000 people annually, with 275 concerts and presentations throughout the greater Phoenix area and beyond.

Under the artistic leadership of Michael Christie as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director and administrative leadership of President Maryellen H. Gleason, the orchestra is overseen by the non-profit Phoenix Symphony Association under Board Chairman Ed Wolf.

The 76-member Phoenix Symphony presents an annual season from September through the beginning of June, featuring full-length Classical and Pops concerts at Sym­phony Hall in downtown Phoenix, along with a variety of symphonic and community performances in Mesa, Prescott, Scottsdale and throughout central Arizona. The Symphony performs for more than 50,000 students and children, helping to introduce music to new generations through a variety of education and youth-engagement programs.

Symphony Classics Concert No. 11

March 20 - Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m.
March 22 - Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m.
Symphony Hall

THE PHOENIX SYMPHONY
Hannu Lintu, conductor
Leon Fleisher, piano

BRAHMS Tragic Overture
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor")
NIELSEN Symphony No. 4 ("The Inextinguishable")

For over 40 years, despite suffering from a paralysis which
limited him to left-handed repertoire, pianist Leon Fleisher
has achieved tremendous acclaim for his brilliant technique.
He miraculously regained the use of his right hand, and now
is taking the world by storm as he embarks on repertoire
previously denied to him. Witness inspiration personified as
Fleisher performs Beethoven's mighty "Emperor" Concerto.

Performances sponsored by Physicians for The Phoenix Symphony

TICKETS: $22, $32, $42, $51, $61, $71