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

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

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

Personnel:
Menahem Pressler, piano

Download:

mqs.link_MenahemPresslerClairdelune20182496.part1.rar
mqs.link_MenahemPresslerClairdelune20182496.part2.rar