I’m off to Germany today for a weekend of piano workshops. I thought it appropriate for my Friday post to feature this master class. It was given by the late American pianist, conductor, and master teacher Leon Fleisher, and was recorded at the Music Academy of the West’s Summer Festival.

After becoming the first American to win the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition in Brussels in 1952, Leon Fleisher enjoyed a glittering concert career. He suffered from a debilitating condition of his right hand, which was later diagnosed as focal dystonia. Focal dystonia is a neurological condition that causes the fingers to curl into the palm of the hand.