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He continued to play left-hand repertoire, including Ravel's Concerto, and went on to lead a distinguished career as a teacher and conductor. In the mid-'90s, Fleisher received treatments for focal dystonia -- the affliction that had been plaguing him -- which effectively restored the use of his left hand. In 1995, Fleisher played with both hands for the Cleveland Orchestra; in 2003, he performed in recital at Carnegie Hall. Fleisher received the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors, where he was recognized for his "consummate" and "life-affirming" musicianship.

And last night at the South Orange Performing Arts Center, Fleisher demonstrated why, despite a rough night behind the keyboard, he remains a musician's musician. More>>

QUESTION: As you know, the American presidential campaign is beginning. More>>

But a handful have climbed to the top and are threatening to make 2008 a year the Balkan nation claims the sport as its own, with three players in the Australian Open semi-finals.

Novak Djokovic, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic have all reinforced their credentials as future champions; players who can push tennis into the next era.

Jankovic beat defending champion Serena Williams to make the last four on Tuesday while Ivanovic sent sister Venus packing yesterday, reinforcing a shift in the pecking order of the women's game.

Djokovic is also firing, crushing fifth seed David Ferrer yesterday, while Janko Tipsarevic took undisputed world number one Roger Federer to five sets.

Tipsarevic's dogged fight against the Swiss has emboldened the sport's young guns, led by Djokovic, to believe that he could be vulnerable.

Their performances here match the country's most successful Grand Slam at Roland Garros last year.

Tennis stardom is not something totally new to Serbia as it was from there that Monica Seles emerged and put together one of the finest careers in women's tennis until she was stabbed in the back during a tournament in Hamburg.

But Seles, born in Novi Sad in an ethnic Hungarian community, turned her back on her country by taking US citizenship in 1994 and has become a resident in the United States.

Two years later civil war erupted in the Balkans as the old Yugoslavian federation collapsed and fragmented into half a dozen countries including Serbia, which emerged badly damaged economically and diplomatically.

Both Djokovic, 20, and Ivanovic, 20, have stated they suffered the backlash of that conflict in their formative years. More>>