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Menahem Pressler (; 16 December 1923 – 6 May 2023) was a German-born Israeli-American pianist and academic teacher. He was known for his work with the Beaux Arts Trio that he co-founded in 1955, playing until its dissolution in 2008, in hundreds of recordings and thousands of concerts. He taught at
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...
. His playing was described as focused on elegance, delicacy and clarity.


Early life

He was born Max Jakob Pressler in
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
on 16 December 1923 and began playing the piano at the age of six. His Jewish parents owned a shop for men's clothing that was destroyed in the Kristallnacht of 9–10 November 1938. His family fled
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
in 1939, initially to Italy, and then to
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. Pressler suffered from eating disorders and was in danger of starvation, but later said that playing the piano cured him. His grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins all died in concentration camps. Pressler, who took the name Menahem, participated in the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco in 1946. Winning first prize launched his career, and he moved to the US. His
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
debut subsequently followed in 1947, playing Schumann's Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy.


Career

Pressler pursued a career as a soloist. 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. From 1955, Pressler taught on the piano faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...
, where he held the rank of Distinguished Professor of Music as the Charles Webb Chair. 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. They met to record a cycle of Mozart's piano trios. It proved so successful that they stayed together as the Beaux Arts Trio. 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. 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 Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
and Ned Rorem, among others, and they played ensemble music for six and even eight players. Pressler returned to Germany in 2008 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. 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''. In December 2013, aged 90, he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic at their New Year's Eve concert. The performance was televised live throughout the world. At the beginning of the 1950s, Pressler recorded a substantial quantity of solo piano music, Jean-Pierre Thiollet, ''88 notes pour piano solo'', "Solo nec plus ultra", Neva Editions, 2015, p.51. . and of music for piano and orchestra by various composers for the American label
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
. The Beaux Arts Trio made an extensive series of recordings for Philips. In addition, Pressler recorded solo piano music commercially on the La Dolce Volta label and
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
. In 2018, he dedicated his last Deutsche Grammophon recording of French musi
Clair de Lune
o his constant companion Annabelle Whitestone, Baroness Weidenfeld.


Personal life

Pressler was married to Sara Scherchen from 1949 until her death in 2014, and they had two children. In 2016, he began a relationship with Annabelle Whitestone Baroness Weidenfeld, whom he had known since 1966. Pressler divided his time between
Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...
, and London. He died in London on 6 May 2023, at age 99.


Awards and recognition

Among his honors and awards, Pressler received honorary doctorates from the
University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Royal Academy of Music in London, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Ben Gurion University. 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. He was nominated for five Grammy Awards. 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 The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
. 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.


References


Further reading

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External links

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Indiana University Alliance of Distinguished and Titled Professors – Menahem Pressler
8 June 1996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pressler, Menahem 1923 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Israeli pianists 20th-century American classical pianists 21st-century American classical pianists American expatriates in England American people of German-Jewish descent Beaux Arts Trio members Cedille Records artists Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Deutsche Grammophon artists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences German classical pianists Jacobs School of Music faculty Israeli classical pianists Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli expatriates in England Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Jewish classical pianists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Male classical pianists Musicians from Magdeburg Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Pupils of Eduard Steuermann