Menahem Pressler

Menahem Pressler (Template:Langx; 16 December 1923 – 6 May 2023) was a German-born Israeli-American pianist and university instructor. He co-founded the Beaux Arts Trio in 1955 and performed with the group until its dissolution in 2008, playing in hundreds of recordings and concerts. He taught at Indiana University Bloomington, and his playing was described as focused on elegance, delicacy, and clarity.<ref name="Brachmann" />

Early life

Born Max Jakob Pressler in Magdeburg on 16 December 1923, he began taking piano lessons at age six.<ref name="Brachmann" /><ref name = "McFadden" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Pressler was Jewish; his parents owned a shop for men's clothing that was destroyed by the Nazis during the pogrom on 9 November 1938.<ref name="Brachmann" /><ref name="Connolly 2008" /> The family fled Nazi Germany in 1939,<ref name="Brachmann" /><ref name="Connolly" /><ref name="Milch" /> initially to Fascist Italy, and then to Haifa in Mandatory Palestine (now Israel).<ref name="Brachmann" /> The young Pressler suffered from eating disorders and was in danger of starvation, later recalling hearing Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31 helped cure him.<ref name="Brachmann" /> His grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins died in Nazi concentration camps in World War II.<ref name="Connolly" />

Pressler began to use the Hebrew name Menahem as his given name. He participated in and won the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco in 1946, which launched his career, and he moved to the US. His Carnegie Hall debut subsequently followed in 1947, playing Schumann's Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy.<ref name="Connolly"/>

Palestine Broadcasting Service studio in Jerusalem, July 1947, after the performance of Schumann's Piano Concerto, with Pressler right of the microphone

Career

Pressler pursued a career as a soloist.<ref name="Brachmann" /> He toured playing with leading orchestras in North America and Europe, in Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Brussels, Helsinki, London, Oslo, and Paris.<ref name="IU" /> From 1955, Pressler taught on the piano faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington, where he held the rank of Distinguished Professor of Music as the Charles Webb Chair.<ref name="IU" /> His debut as a chamber musician was at the 1955 Berkshire Festival, where he appeared as the pianist with violinist Daniel Guilet and cellist Bernard Greenhouse.<ref name = "Telegraph" /><ref name="IU" /> They met to record a cycle of Mozart's piano trios. It proved so successful that they stayed together as the Beaux Arts Trio.<ref name="Brachmann" /> He was the only original member to perform with the group through its entire existence, including several changes of membership, up to disbanding in 2008.<ref name="Oestreich" />

The trio performed in hundreds of recordings and thousands of concerts. They began recording a cycle of the piano trios by Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré. Their repertoire also included contemporary music by Charles Ives and Ned Rorem, among others, and they played ensemble music for six and even eight players.<ref name="Telegraph" />

Pressler returned to Germany in 2008 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht.<ref name="Connolly 2008" /> In 2010, he played at the Rheingau kMusik Festival with Antônio Meneses, the last cellist of the Beaux Arts Trio, and appeared before in the interview series Rendezvous.<ref name="Milch" /> In December 2013, aged 90, he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic at their New Year's Eve concert.<ref name="Pirich" /> The performance was televised live throughout the world.<ref name="Telegraph" />

At the beginning of the 1950s, Pressler recorded a substantial quantity of solo piano music,<ref>Jean-Pierre Thiollet, 88 notes pour piano solo, "Solo nec plus ultra", Neva Editions, 2015, p.51. Template:ISBN.</ref> and of music for piano and orchestra by various composers for the American label MGM. The Beaux Arts Trio made an extensive series of recordings for Philips.<ref name="Oestreich" /> In addition, Pressler recorded solo piano music commercially on the La Dolce Volta label and Deutsche Grammophon. In 2018, he dedicated his last Deutsche Grammophon recording of French music Clair de Lune to his constant companion Annabelle Whitestone, Baroness Weidenfeld.<ref name="Maddocks" />

Personal life

Pressler was married to Sara Scherchen from 1949 until her death in 2014, and they had two children.<ref name="Pianist 2023" /> In 2016, he began a relationship with Annabelle Whitestone Baroness Weidenfeld,<ref name = McFadden/> whom he had known since 1966.

Pressler divided his time between Bloomington, Indiana, and London. He died in London on 6 May 2023, at age 99.<ref name="Brachmann" /><ref name = McFadden/>

Awards and recognition

Among his honors and awards, Pressler received honorary doctorates from the University of Nebraska, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Royal Academy of Music in London,<ref name="Telegraph" /> the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Ben Gurion University.<ref name="IU 2023" />

In 2005, Pressler received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the nation's highest honour, and was named a Commandeur in the Order of Arts and Letters award. He was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, in recognition of a lifetime of performance and leadership in music, in 2007.<ref name="IU 2023" />

He was nominated for five Grammy Awards.<ref name="Grammy" /> He received a Chamber Music America's Distinguished Service Award, the Gold Medal of Merit from the National Society of Arts and Letters. He was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref name="IU 2023" />

Pressler received lifetime achievement awards from Gramophone magazine, the International Classical Music Awards, ECHO Classic in Germany and Les Victoires de la Musique Classique in France.<ref name="IU 2023" />

Further reading

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External links

• Template:Official website
• Indiana University Alliance of Distinguished and Titled Professors – Menahem Pressler
• Interview with Menahem Pressler, 8 June 1996