Menahem Pressler: Artistry in Piano Teaching

by William Brown

As soloist, master class teacher, and pianist of the world-renowned Beaux Arts Trio, Menahem Pressler can boast of four Grammy nominations, three honorary doctorates, more than 80 recordings, and lifetime achievement awards presented by France, Germany, and Israel. Former Pressler student William Brown traces the master's pianistic development through Rudiakov, Kestenberg, Vengerova, Casadesus, Petri, and Steuermann, blending techniques and traditions derived from Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and J. S. Bach.

Brown presents Pressler's approach to performance and teaching, including technical exercises, principles of relaxation and total body involvement, and images to guide the pianist's creativity toward expressive interpretation. Insights from the author's own lessons, interviews with Pressler, and recollections of more than 100 Pressler students from the past 50 years are gathered in this text. Measure-by-measure lessons on 23 piano masterworks by, among others, Bach, Bartók, Debussy, and Ravel as well as transcriptions of Pressler's fingerings, hand redistributions, practicing guidelines, musical scores, and master class performances are included.

Genres: Music

328 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

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Reviews

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved part 1 where his life and philosophy and his approach to technique were discussed. Part 2 was transcribed comments from master classes. If you happened to be studying one of those advanced pieces, it might be helpful to have those measure by measure comments, but since they have been stripped of context (who knows how it was played in the first place to inspire those comments!) I didn't find them useful.

[Christine Bookman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Pressler is part of my piano ancestry. :) How can I not like this?

[Araxie Altounian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, and found some great suggestions on practicing technique: they're so natural and produce a beautiful tone.