| Contents |
I. A life in teaching. A brief biography -- The studio -- Pressler's early training -- The Debussy competition -- Opportunities in America -- Bloomington -- General aspects of Pressler's teaching -- The technical approach -- Principles of expressive performance -- Guides for practicing -- Technical instructions -- Pressler's humor -- Pressler at the Met: Beethoven's Sonata op. 110 -- Pressler at the TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute -- II. The music. Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita no. 2 in C minor, S. 826 -- Béla Bartók, Out of doors -- Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto no. 5 in E- flat major, op. 73, "Emperor", Sonata, op. 81a "Les adieux" -- Johannes Brahms, Sonata in F-sharp minor, op. 2, Piano trio in B major, op. 8 -- Frédéric Chopin, Sonata no. 3 in B minor, op. 58, Nocturne in E major, op. 62 no. 2 -- Claude Debussy, Prélude, "Les collines d'Anacapri," book 1, no. 5, Prélude, "Feux d'artifice," book 2, no. 12 -- L'isle joyeuse -- Joseph Haydn, Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50 -- Franz Liszt, Après une lecture du Dante -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata in B-flat major, K. 281 -- Serge Prokofiev, Sonata no. 7 in B-flat major, op. 83 -- Maurice Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit, Le tombeau de Couperin, Piano trio in A minor -- Franz Schubert, Fantasie in C major, D. 760, "Wanderer" -- Robert Schumann, Kreisleriana, op. 16, Concerto in A minor, op. 54 -- Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, Piano concerto in B-flat minor, op. 23 -- Carl Maria von Weber, "Perpetual motion" : sonata in C major, op. 24, Finale -- Appendix A: Menahem Pressler's musical ancestry -- Appendix B: Lineage of piano teachers -- Appendix C: Tributes to Pressler -- Appendix D: Pressler's studio rosters (1955-2008). |
| Abstract |
Menahem Pressler was born in 1920s Germany to a Jewish clothing store owner, escaped the Nazi regime, and settled in Palestine, where he studied piano and gave frequent recitals and radio appearances. After winning the Debussy Prize in San Francisco in 1946, Pressler's international career was launched with an unprecedented four-year contract to play concerti with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and to perform with other major orchestras. As soloist, master class teacher, and pianist of the world-renowned Beaux Arts Trio, Menahem Pressler can boast of four Grammy nominations, two honorary doctorates, more than eighty recordings, and lifetime achievement awards presented by France, Germany, and Israel. Former Pressler student William Brown traces the master's pianistic development through Rudiakov, Kestenberg, Vengerova, Casadesus, Petri, and Steuermann, blending techniques and traditions derived from Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and J.S. Bach. The author presents Pressler's approach to performance and teaching, including technical exercises, principles of relaxation and total body involvement, and images to guide the pianist's creativity toward expressive interpretation. Insights from the author's own lessons, interviews with Pressler, and recollections of more than a hundred Pressler students from the past fifty years are gathered in this text. |
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