Menahem Pressler

German-born Israeli-American pianist Menahem Pressler was born in Magdeburg on 16 December 1923. After Kristallnacht, He fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1939, to Italy and then Palestine.

His career began when he won first prize in the 1946 Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco.

At the 1955 Berkshire Festival he first performed as the Beaux Arts Trio's pianist, along with violinist Daniel Guilet and cellist Bernard Greenhouse. He remained with the trio until its dissolution in 2008, at which point he was the only original member.

From 1955 he taught piano at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

In 2008 he returned to Germany on the seventieth anniversary of Kristallnacht, and in December 2013, aged ninety, he performed at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's New Year's Eve concert.

Menahem Pressler died on 6 May 2023, aged ninety-nine.

 

A selection of articles about Menahem Pressler

Classical music news - May 2023 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month

Ensemble. Impeccable Standards - Bill Newman's pick of June and July concerts at London's Wigmore Hall

Ensemble. Velvety Tones - Farewell American performances by the Beaux Arts Trio and an Amernet String Quartet recital, reviewed by Lawrence Budmen