Menahem Pressler: ‘I’m here tonight thanks to a brave surgeon’

Last New Year’s Eve, the former Beaux Arts pianist Menahem Pressler made his Berlin Philharmonic debut in a Mozart concerto at the age of 91. It was a tremendous occasion, but Menahem wasn’t feeling that great.

When he got back to the States, doctors told him he had an inoperable heart condition and could not fly again.

‘Inoperable’ meant no surgeon would operate on a man of 91. Except one.

Dr Virendra Patel of Boston took a look at his condition and agreed to repair his aorta with the insertion of a unique, custom-made stent.

Tonight, Menahem receives the Echo Klassik Lifetime award.

To watch Menahem in conversation with Dr Patel, who explains the procedure, watch here.