My nine lives

the long version

"Related through the student-teacher lineage to Beethoven by way of his instructor, Artur Schnabel, the pianist Leon Fleisher displayed from his earliest years an exceptional gift. A child prodigy at the keyboard, he went on to a brilliant career, with recordings that are regarded to this day as classic and definitive. And then, like a hero from a Greek tragedy, he was struck down in his prime: At the age of thirty-six, he suddenly and mysteriously lost the use of two fingers on his right hand." "It is not just Fleisher's thirty-year search for a cure that drives this remarkable memoir. With his coauthor, celebrated music critic Anne Midgette, he explores the depression that engulfed him as his condition worsened, and, perhaps most powerfully of all, the sheer love of music that rescued him from complete self-destruction. Providing artistic as well as autobiographical context, My Nine Lives is an odyssey through a maestro's repertoire. Piece by piece, performance by performance, the book provides unparalleled insights into Fleisher's ascension through the critical and popular ranks of classical music." "Miraculously, at the age of sixty-six, Fleisher was diagnosed with focal dystonia and learned to manage it through a combination of physical therapy and experimental Botox injections. In 2003 he returned to Carnegie Hall to give his first two-handed recital there in over three decades and brought down the house."--Jacket.