The world mourns Menahem Pressler

Tributes are pouring in. Here is a select handful:

Today the world gained a King.
But today we also lost one.
Farewell Menahem, and thank you. For everything.

May his memory be a blessing.
Menahem Pressler, 1923-2023 pic.twitter.com/t7mLFrIQsh

— Daniel Hope (@HopeViolin) May 6, 2023

Boulanger Trio (pictured): Remembering a wonderful artist who inspired us so much on our journey of finding our unique sound as an ensemble. Menahem Pressler gave us the most remarkable and touching advices whenever we worked with him.
In a lesson with Dvorak’s f minor Trio he told us about a certain bar in the 3rd movement:
“Look, this note is a stranger. And that is why you have to play it most gentle and lovingly and take extra care about it. Because that is what you do to strangers.

Wir trauern um die Klavier-Legende Menahem Pressler. Unvergessen ist uns der gemeinsame Auftritt beim Silvesterkonzert 2014.
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We mourn the passing of legendary pianist Menahem Pressler. We will never forget his performance with us at the New Year’s Eve concert in 2014. pic.twitter.com/yJt4lutckc

— Berliner Philharmoniker (@BerlinPhil) May 7, 2023

Ido Zeev: esterday, we lost a great man.
I had the great honor of working with Menahem Pressler in Oxford in 2019.
It was one of these very rare moments in this life journey in which one knows s/he is going to be a different person very soon, but does not know in which way.
I started playing the first notes of L’isle Joyeuse by Debussy, and immediately felt how the room, the music and me, are influenced and inspired by the presence of the great man. I shall never forget how, as we started working, Mr. Pressler’s eyes lit up by his incredible inner fire and passion for this celestial music.
A loud silence fell upon the audience as he moved from the piece to his touching story of his journey from Germany to Israel, about him trying to find his own voice in music. He was in his teenage years back in 1939, so was I in 2019, but with some ~80 years difference. Nothing external mattered for me anymore, not the audience, not my stream of thoughts – it was about life, when suddenly music got its place in the universe. I have never experienced the present moment like I had during that short period of time.
At the end of this life lesson, Maesteo Papadopoulos, director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra told me with: “Ido, you will never forget this experience”.
I wish you, Mr. Pressler, wherever you are now, to be surrounded by the most glorious Muses, by great music and warmth.
My sincerest condolences to his family, Lady Annabelle Weidenfeld, his students and music lovers around the world.

Sad to learn of the death of Menahem Pressler – such an expressive musician, whose every phrase spoke so vividly. So many wonderful performances, both with and without the trio. And what a character! Bubbling with energy and joie de vivre, musical and personal, well into his 90s. pic.twitter.com/Xsmr6ghQr2

— Steven Isserlis (@StevenIsserlis) May 7, 2023

Christiaan Kuyvenhoven: “To really learn, to really study, is a painful process. Because you are made aware of what you don’t know. And you run up against material which forces the most out of you. You are not sure: will I measure up, or not? So you try again, and again.”

Thank you, dear Menahem Pressler, for being a source of great wisdom, kindness, and generosity. You’ve enriched the world with your beautiful musicianship for almost a century! I’ll give it a try, but am pretty sure I can’t measure up to that. Rest in peace.

The Vienna Philharmonic is saddened to learn about the passing of Menahem Pressler.
We remember his visit in December 2019 with gratitude, when we, jointly with him and with Lady Weidenfeld, delved into letters by Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler from the Historical Archives.

Roberta Cooper: I’m so sad to hear that the legendary pianist Menahem Pressler has passed away at 99 years old. He lived a full, extraordinary life and deeply touched many as a musician, teacher, and as a dear friend.