Menahem Pressler - A 90th Birthday Celebration - Live in Paris with Quatuor Ebène
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81, B.155 (1887) [38:07]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Piano Quintet in A major, D.667 ‘The Trout’ (1819) [37:39]
Menahem Pressler (piano); Quatuor Ebène (Pierre Colombet (violin); Gabriel Le Magadure (violin); Mathieu Herzog (viola); Raphaël Merlin (cello)); Benjamin Berlioz (double-bass)
rec. live, 7 November 2013, Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
ERATO 2564 625964 [75:39 & DVD: 116:30]
To celebrate the 90th birthday of Menahem Pressler the Quatuor Ebène
was invited to join him in concert at the Salle Pleyel, Paris on 7 November
2013. A founding member and pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio the German-born
Israeli/American pianist became established as one of the world's
most distinguished and honoured pianists. To mark the event Erato recorded
the concert. With the CD they have issued a DVD which adds to the CD's
Dvořák and Schubert Quintets performances of four excerpts
from Schubert’s Winterreise and Die Forelle with
Pressler accompanying tenor Christoph Prégardien. The Quatuor Ebène also
perform the Andantino from the Debussy String Quartet.
To conclude, Pressler plays the Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor,
Op. posth.
The first work is Dvořák’s Piano Quintet in A major
Op. 81. Buoyed by the great success of his fifth visit to England in 1886
Dvořák the next year completed this substantial and joyous work.
In the quicker movements Pressler and the Quatuor Ebène perform with great
vitality and joie de vivre. Evidently based on a ballad that
originated in the Ukraine the Dumka is beautifully performed.
I love the playing of the mournful viola melody and the way the group
convincingly communicate an undercurrent of melancholy. Steeped in Bohemian
folk-music in the Scherzo, a Furiant, the quintet gallops
along with sheer vivacity. My first choice Dvořák’s Piano
Quintet, Op. 81 for some years has been the evergreen 1962 Vienna
account from Clifford Curzon and the Vienna Philharmonic String Quartet
led by Willi Boskovsky. Theirs is classic chamber-music playing of the
highest quality and has been digitally re-mastered on Decca. Another version
I often play is the stunningly vital performance from the Leipzig String
Quartet with Christian Zacharias. It is beautifully recorded too in 2003
and can still be found on MDG Gold.
Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet, D.667,
unusually scored for piano, violin, viola, cello and double-bass is one
of the most glorious works in all chamber music. It was likely written
in the summer of 1819 not long after the composer’s return to Vienna
from teaching Count Johann Karl Esterhazy’s two young countesses
at Zseliz then in Hungary, now Želiezovce, Slovakia. The score is
thought to have been commissioned by Sylvester Paumgartner, a wealthy
local patron also an amateur cellist. He it was who suggested using a
theme and set of variations on Schubert’s own song Die Forelle
(The Trout) D.550. In the accomplished hands of Pressler and
his fellow musicians the delightfully vivid opening Allegro vivace
truly sparkles. The intensely songful Andante feels wistfully
reflective and the concise Scherzo personifies warm summer joy.
This is followed by the Andantino an engaging and wide-ranging
theme and five variations. After a slightly reserved start the judiciously
paced Finale develops into a lyrical outpouring of blissful emotion.
Remarkable throughout is Presser’s eloquence and gloriously crisp
articulation. There are a considerable number of competing recordings
of Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet. The
one I have played most often is the one by Frank Braley, Renaud Capuçon,
Gérard Caussé, Gautier Capuçon and Alois Posch recorded in La Chaux-de-Fonds
in 2002 on Virgin Classics. Another favourite is the evergreen account
played by pianist Clifford Curzon and the Vienna Philharmonic String Quartet
led by Willi Boskovsky. Curzon and the string players are on their finest
form with highly polished playing, captivating expressive eloquence and
tremendous lyricism.
A real bonus on the DVD is the performance of four pieces from Schubert’s
epic Winterreise for voice and piano, D.911. These are sung by
the German tenor Christoph Prégardien accompanied by Menahem Pressler.
Winterreise is widely acknowledged as Schubert’s supreme
contribution to the Lied. It was in 1827 that he composed the
song-cycle in two parts, each containing twelve songs and all setting
the German poet Wilhelm Müller. It seems remarkable today that when Schubert’s
circle of friends initially heard Winterreise it received a very
mixed response with a number considering the cycle much too gloomy for
enjoyment. Here at the Salle Pleyel, Paris the partnership of Prégardien
and Pressler is an inspired one with both relishing every note. It is
frustrating that Prégardien and Pressler didn’t perform the whole
cycle on the night. Prégardien provides exceptionally sensitive and refined
singing with clear diction. He is expressive yet in a rather understated
manner. Finally Prégardien gives an attractive performance of Die
Forelle the short song from which Schubert used a theme for his set
of variations in the fourth movement of the ‘Trout’
Quintet. Next the Quatuor Ebène plays the third movement Andantino
from Debussy’s String Quartet from 1893. It’s a most
lovely performance with the Ebène knowing just how much emotion to blend
with the writing’s refined textures. The final item on the DVD is
Pressler’s delightful reading of Chopin’s beautiful Nocturne
in C sharp minor, Op. posth. Composed in 1830 this is sometimes called
the ‘Reminiscence’ and Pressler's playing
is elegant and quite gracious.
A perfectly matched collaboration Pressler and the Ebène are in outstanding
form in both the quintets. Their playing is a watchword for refinement
and character. Pressler’s part is truly inspired especially for
his unshakeable sensitivity and captivating lyricism. These quite stunning
live performances are lent additional frisson by the occasion of Pressler’s
ninetieth birthday. On both the CD and DVD the sound quality has been
engineered to a high standard with an especially satisfying balance between
piano and strings/voice. The DVD includes a film of Pressler thanking
the Ebène for performing with him and also giving a very short talk about
his life in music. The booklet essay titled ‘Menahem Pressler -
The venerable prodigy’ concentrates solely on the ninetieth birthday
celebrations with nothing about the works played. Worthy of praise on
the DVD is the picture quality of this LGM Télévision production directed
by Sébastien Glas. The footage is agreeable and has been shot using judicious
camera angles in a way that doesn’t detract from the music.
Michael Cookson
DVD contents
Dvorak & Schubert quintets plus
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Winterreise, for voice and piano, D.911 (1827):
No. 5: Der Linden Baum [4:15]
No. 11: Frühlingstraum [3:55]
No. 15: Die Krähe [1:44]
No. 24: Der Leiermann [3:10]
Lied: Die Forelle, D.550 (1817) [2:11]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Third movement Andantino from String Quartet in G Minor, Op.
10 (1893) [8:58]
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-49)
Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. posth. (1830) [3:38]
rec. live, 7 November 2013, Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
Menahem Pressler (piano)
Quatuor Ebène
Christoph Prégardien (tenor)
Executive producer: Sabrina Iwanski
Producer: Pierre-Martin Juban
An LGM Télévision production
DVD direction: Sébastien Glas
DVD Colour - NTSC systems - Disc format: 1 DVD5 - Sound format: Stereo
PCM 2.0 - Main language English - No subtitles.
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