Menahem Pressler, a living legend of the piano, has coupled three Viennese Classical works for this ‘birthday album’. In this recital, the tradition is Viennese. The city plays a key role in this music, as was later to be the case in Leipzig with Mendelssohn and Schumann. In his view, there is nothing more beautiful than the Mozart Rondo included here. This music contains both sadness and joy, feelings the interpreter has often experienced in his life. Here he records the piece, one of the most personal Mozart ever composed, for the very first time. By placing it alongside Beethoven’s Bagatelles, he underlines a spiritual link with Mozart. In Schubert’s Sonata in G major, Menahem Pressler has thought long and hard about how to convey the spirit of this free dance, which also refers to song, to the art of the lied. Menahem Pressler has honed his sonority to the point where it resembles a vocal timbre. His sound is infinitely warm, pure and tender, with notes of fruit and wood, like fine vintage wine. This disc is a true event, giving listeners the sensation of being transported back to a lost paradise, something like the ‘world of yesterday’ evoked by Stefan Zweig.
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