Wittgenstein's Repertoire

Wittgenstein's Repertoire explores a fascinating and little-known corner of the musical world: the several generations of pianists, starting with and inspired by Paul Wittgenstein (maimed in WWI), and continuing through Leon Fleisher in the 1960s and Keith Porter-Snell today, who have lost the use of their right hand. Rather than retreat from music or bask in victimhood, these musicians (and the composers they have commissioned) have instead re-imagined their instrument, creating a small but exquisite repertoire of left hand alone piano music. The film takes us from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where Wittgenstein's daughter Joanne provides a living link to his legacy; across the Atlantic to London, where new scores have been unearthed at Sotheby's; and bucolic Bath, where Porter-Snell is planning a festival of Left Hand Alone Music. Also featured: Marc-André Hamelin and legendary pianist Leon Fleisher.