Debussy: Clair de lune | Menahem Pressler, piano
Музыка
Drenched in the light of the moon: Claude Debussy’s “Clair de lune” is an ode to the night sky. It’s one of the French composer’s best-known pieces and it was given an emotional interpretation on 17 October 2012 at a concert in the Salle Pleyel in Paris by piano virtuoso Menahem Pressler (1923 - 2023), who was almost 90 years old at the time.
The French composer Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) is a representative of musical Impressionism. Debussy was fond of subject matter from nature such as sea, clouds and snow and attempted to inject these phenomena of nature with musical character, whereby a formal freedom was of particular importance to him. Claude Debussy was an individualist who wasn’t afraid to ruffle feathers. He started getting noticed in 1894 with the orchestral work “Prélude à l´après-midi d´un faune”; the final breakthrough came with the opera “Pelléas et Mélisande” premiered in 1902.
The piece “Claire de lune” is part of the “Suite bergamasque“ composed by Claude Debussy in 1890. It consists of four movements; “Clair de lune“ is the third of these. The piano suite was first performed in 1905. Claude Debussy often drew inspiration from the poetry of Paul Verlaine - sensitive, somber descriptions of the natural world in accordance with late 19th-century tastes. “Clair de lune” was also inspired by an eponymous poem by Verlaine. This particular movement of the suite is a frequent inclusion on concert programs and is exceedingly popular - not just on stage. “Clair de lune” also features on many movie soundtracks.
The soloist Menahem Pressler was born as Max Pressler in 1923 in the German city of Magdeburg. His family is Jewish. After the Nazis came to power he fled the Holocaust in 1939 with his parents, initially emigrating to Palestine and then to the US in 1940. The other members of his family were murdered by the Nazis. In the year 1946, the young Pressler won the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco, and remained in California thereafter to continue his studies. In 1955, he founded the world-famous “Beaux Arts Trio”. The ensemble went on to make more than 50 recordings. Many musicians played with the trio until it gave its final concert in 2008. Pressler has also been performing as a soloist throughout his life.
Menahem Pressler once said: "I'm still hungry for music." And he remained that way on into old age. The piano virtuoso died in London in 2023 at the age of 99.
A production of LGM Télévision
© EuroArts 2012
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Пікірлер: 48
So gracefully played! And being 94 piano virtuoso Menahem Pressler had a solo concert at our Walt Disney Concert Hall , he was amazing, one wouldn’t even think of his age. Four encores, standing ovation, the audience didn’t want to let him go. Unforgettable concert!
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Ай бұрын
Thanks for sharing this memory with us and our community!
@galinakrivulin6767
Ай бұрын
@@DWClassicalMusic My pleasure.
I am in awe of this master pianist. There is a depth of emotion and purity here that is rarely achieved. It is an absolute joy to listen to this performance!
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Ай бұрын
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That is a great piano that can respond to his touch like it does!
Moonlight from the perspective of an old man ❤.
@Musicarbs
Ай бұрын
is very good
@retiredmusiceducator3612
Ай бұрын
See! Not all old men are bad for this world! I sure get tired of how younger people completely reject older people in America. We have all been through a lot more of life's challenges than today's young people will ever have - or live through. I mean, they are sitll struggling with who and what they are - male or female? treated equally? intitled to everything we had but only free! Will follow AI instead of learn for themselves! Have horrible listening AND thinking skills. I'll take us old guys 24/7!
Bravo 👏🏻 bravo 👏🏻 ❤❤❤❤❤
Gentle and well seasoned musician gracefully performed by a true master. Such a great composition.
Master Pressler also played Clair de lune as the encore of his recital in Taiwan in 2017, and I still remember it vividly.
This is absolutely my favorite ❤❤❤ it always brings tears to my eyes because it is so beautiful!!!
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Ай бұрын
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Absolutely perfect!😮❤
My soul just floated into the firmament ❤!! May he rest in peace. And may God embrace him in heaven so he can play with all of His Angelic Choir and musicians!
Divin! Mulțumim!
La interpretación de calidad hecha desde la perfección conseguía por la edad
Himmlisch!!!! 😍🤩🥰😇 Danke fürs Hochladen. ❤
i feel like he is adding little flourishes that make the song even richer. this is definitely a fantastic rendition of the song
An absolute master of the piano ❤
❤Amazing!!!!!❤
Magnificent! 💞😍❤️
Para quitarse el sombrero.Olé❤
Grazie per questo magnifico Debussy
Bravo!
Sublimely beautiful.
Thank You! Perfect! Wonderful! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💐💐💐
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Ай бұрын
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Ótimo ouvir num sábado, pela manhã, quando tudo está mais calmo. Obrigado.
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Ай бұрын
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Goosebumps. Just like Daniel Barenboim. Fricken Flawless. B E A utiful.
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17 күн бұрын
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so beautiful !!! thanks for the video...
СЕРДЕЧНО БЛАГОДАРЮ!
Todos llorando tanto como yo 👏👏❤️
Grande cultore del suono.Ottimo pianista
I don't know How I express my emotions
What a gorgeous begining. The pianissimos are beguiling, ravishing.
He makes the piano speak to me!
Breathtaking!
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Ай бұрын
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seniore..❤
プレスラーの奏でる音は、とても美しく、晩年になるほど磨かれて、宝石の様です。 素晴らしい芸術家の芸術に触れることが出来る悦びは、この世界に生まれてきた喜びです。 ありがとう。メナヘム・プレスラー
@DWClassicalMusic
29 күн бұрын
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My kompliments it's not so easy to play in this age so wonderful, Christina Gussmann ott, professional musician
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Ай бұрын
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remember him at IU along with Gingold and Starker and Yaron and Josh Bell and so many others. I was a nobody but I even sat an talked with many of them. Is that culture gone now too? I knew the trio too than Pressler played in. Saw him in the coffee shop. Joe Gingold I would see at Kroger carrying a billion dollar fiddle. ha ha.