La fille aux cheveux de lin, prelude for piano, CD 125/8 (L. 117/8)
Nocturne for piano No. 20 in C sharp minor, KK IVa/16, CT. 127 (B. 49)
Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K. 595
Mazurka for piano No. 13 in A minor, Op. 17/4, CT. 63
German-Israeli-American pianist Menahem Pressler, best known as part of the Beaux Arts Trio, resumed his solo career in great old age after that group disbanded. When these live recordings were made in 2016, he was 92. He returned to Germany in 2008 for a performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, but these recordings from Magdeburg, the city his family fled after Kristallnacht, have special resonance. You might want them for that reason alone, or for the novelty of a 92-year-old pianist, but the best reason is that Pressler ...
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German-Israeli-American pianist Menahem Pressler, best known as part of the Beaux Arts Trio, resumed his solo career in great old age after that group disbanded. When these live recordings were made in 2016, he was 92. He returned to Germany in 2008 for a performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, but these recordings from Magdeburg, the city his family fled after Kristallnacht, have special resonance. You might want them for that reason alone, or for the novelty of a 92-year-old pianist, but the best reason is that Pressler's playing is quite unusual. The two Mozart concertos are the most interesting, and you might sample any of the outer movements. It is his rhythmic approach that's compelling: he lightly varies the tempo without making Mozart into a Romantic, and he controls the effect in such a way that the solo line uniquely seems to float above the orchestral accompaniment. This requires sensitive help from the Magdeburg Philharmonic under conductor Kimbo Ishii, who deliver it. There is a missed...
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