Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb's Blog
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It was not just Beethoven celebrating an anniversary last year—it was also 100 years since the birth of the great cellist Maurice Gendron (1920-1990), who was also a teacher and a conductor. One place you will run across his name is if you tackle the Haydn D major concerto, his edition of which stands in stark contrast to the rival edition by Gevaert. This recording of Gendron playing the Debussy sonata (https://www.operamusica.com/artist/maurice-gendron/video/61066) really shows off his beautiful tone, distinctive vibrato, and very musical approach to shifting. Here he is playing the Lalo sonata https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3zCuf8ptRI, which I think should be better known. I will be doing my part to spread familiarity of this sonata by performing it next season, and I do have a different interpretation than Gendron’s.
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The weirdness of 2020, with so many performances cancelled, led me to spend more time writing articles. I managed to get seven written, five of which were published in 2020. The most recent one was the collection of remembrances about George Neikrug, who passed away in 2019 just after turning 100. All three of the cello teachers who had influenced me most were now deceased, having passed away within a two year period from 2017-2019. I feel such a profound debt of gratitude to each of them that I have tried to help preserve their memory and legacy.