Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb's Blog

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.