Paul Wittgenstein was born in 1887 and was a virtuoso pianist who participated in piano duos with composers of the stature of Brahms, Strauss, and Mahler.
Unfortunately, he went to war in 1915; A year after the outbreak of World War I.
During the Russian assault on Poland, Wittgenstein was severely wounded in the right arm, so there was no other way to save his life than to amputate plunging him into a terrible depression.
After the war, Wittgenstein made the decision to overcome his depression, not surrender and study all the current music that could be played on one hand.
His talent and perseverance earned him the respect of renowned artists and composers of his time including Maurice Ravel who invited him to his house one day.
Ravel was in the process of composing his Concerto in Sol Mayor for Piano when they met and, moved by his situation, decided to postpone his current work and compose a concert especially for him.
Ravel focused the next nine months on this piece. The fruit of that work is the incredible Concert for the Left Hand.
The following is a video of a rare original recording with Ravel at the baton and Wittgenstein at the piano.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI7tnBmGnq4
Now, if you want to listen to a complete version, here is the pianist Yuja Wang and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia: