Menahem Pressler, the celebrated pianist who fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and who, after establishing himself in postwar America, co-founded the Beaux Arts Trio, died May 6 in London. He was 99.

The Beaux Arts Trio became the world’s reigning piano-violin-cello ensemble and dazzled audiences for a half-century. The group recorded nearly all the piano trio repertory — Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Saint-Saëns and others — through the boom years of LPs and into the digital age, garnering praise for redefining the perception of the piano trio and of chamber music itself.

In 2008, when the trio disbanded after 53 years, Mr. Pressler was 84, but he continued performing as a soloist and with ensembles. He also continued teaching at Indiana University, where he held the Charles H. Webb chair in music. That year, Mr. Pressler returned to Germany to observe the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. And in 2013, at 90, he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, at a New Year’s Eve concert that was televised live throughout the world.       [The New York Times photo]