Menahem Pressler – Clair de lune (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Menahem Pressler – Clair de lune (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:07:35 minutes | 1003 MB | Genre: Classical, Piano
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Born 16 December 1923, today Menahem Pressler is, without a shadow of a doubt, the king of pianists, just as Mieczysław Horszowski was in the 1980s. Founder of the Beaux-Arts Trio, great and much-overlooked performer of French music, in his thirties he laid down some of the greatest recordings of Debussy (La Boîte à joujoux, Estampes, Suite bergamasque, Arabesques, La plus que lente, Rêverie) of the 1950s, for the American label MGM Records (but he also made several LPs dedicated to Prokofiev which are now completely forgotten, and the Histoires by Jacques Ibert…). Today, for Deutsche Grammophon, he has cast his mind back to that time when, standing on American soil, everything still lay ahead of him; and he has written a beautiful programme, largely centred around Debussy with the composer’s greatest hits (Arabesques, Clair de lunefrom the Suite bergamasque, several Préludes from Livre I such as La fille aux cheveux de lin), finishing with Fauré (Barcarolle No. 6) and finally Ravel ( Pavane pour une infante défunte, Oiseaux tristes). Pressler is keeping alive another piano tradition, with his sound, his sense of style, and quite simply his spirit. His Clair de lune is full of this spirit, without ever falling into mawkishness, or losing its tone of softly-spoken confidence. But for pity’s sake, Universal Music: re-release all of Pressler’s solo pieces for MGM Records. Bringing back this inestimable and now-completely-inaccessible legacy would be a truly fitting tribute to this great artist.

Tracklist:
01. Menahem Pressler – Deux arabesques, L. 66: No. 1 Andante con moto (05:30)
02. Menahem Pressler – Debussy: Rêverie, L. 68 (05:28)
03. Menahem Pressler – Suite bergamasque, L. 75: 3. Clair de lune (06:17)
04. Menahem Pressler – Children’s Corner, L. 113: 5. The Little Shepherd (03:19)
05. Menahem Pressler – Debussy: La plus que lente, L. 121 (05:57)
06. Menahem Pressler – Préludes / Book 1, L. 117: 1. Danseuses de Delphes (03:51)
07. Menahem Pressler – Préludes / Book 1, L. 117: 2. Voiles (05:03)
08. Menahem Pressler – Préludes / Book 1, L. 117: 8. La fille aux cheveux de lin (03:14)
09. Menahem Pressler – Préludes / Book 1, L. 117: 10. La cathédrale engloutie (07:38)
10. Menahem Pressler – Préludes / Book 1, L. 117: 12. Minstrels (02:36)
11. Menahem Pressler – Fauré: Barcarolle No.6 In E Flat Major, Op.70 (05:32)
12. Menahem Pressler – Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte, M. 19 (07:50)
13. Menahem Pressler – Miroirs, M. 43: 2. Oiseaux tristes (05:15)

Personnel:
Menahem Pressler, piano

Composers:
Debussy, Claude Achille (1862-1918)
Fauré, Gabriel Urbain (1845-1924)
Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937)

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