Maurice Gendron · The Concerto Recordings 1956-1962

June 2015 ∙ MusicWeb International ∙ Maurice Gendron plays Brahms, Prokofiev and Fauré
Listening to this Brahms Double, one regrets that the two artists didn’t make a commercial recording, as they are like-minded spirits. Hans Müller-Kray opens the work at a briskly pace, energized, majestic and forceful. I love the way he builds up the tension. The soloists project well and the engineers have struck an almost ideal balance between the two protagonists. Genron and Grumiaux display a well-matched mastery of technique and beauty of tone. In the slow movement, their voices intertwine with expressive tenderness and yearning. This is all topped off with a rhythmically charged finale, where excitement and brio are the order of the day. It doesn’t get much better than this. Prokofiev’s Cello Concerto Op. 58 underwent a lengthy gestation from 1933, until its completion in 1938. It was written at the behest of Gregor Piatigorsky. It’s a treat to have this rarely recorded Op. 58 Concerto. There is no doubting from this performance that he proves himself a worthy exponent of this technically challenging work, and he is well up to the task of tackling its complexities. In the third movement, which is a theme and variations, each variation is well characterized, with the virtuosic solo section, bravely fought. Intonation is immaculate throughout. Gendron is ably supported by the Sinfonie-Orchester des Hessischen Rundfunks, under Otto Matzerath, a name new to me. It is with the same forces, this time under the baton of the better known Sixten Ehrling that the cellist gives us a ravishing Fauré Élégie, steeped in pathos and longing. The woodwinds are exceptionally warm and refined.
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February 2016 ∙ Artamag ∙ Jean-Charles Hoffelé ∙ Maurice Gendron plays Brahms, Prokofiev and Fauré
Aussi fabuleuse que soit cette somme, il y manquait pourtant une œuvre qui fit beaucoup pour la carrière internationale de Maurice Gendron : le Concerto pour violoncelle de Serge Prokofiev. Elle resta toujours à son répertoire, comme le prouve la fabuleuse lecture pleine de verve qu’il en donne pour la Radio de Hesse sous la baguette aiguisée d’Otto Matzerath, un grand chef oublié, le 23 février 1956. A mon sens, il y surclasse János Starker avec lequel Süsskind enregistra finalement l’œuvre pour Walter Legge. On doit l’exhumation de cette bande parfaite à Meloclassic, qui ajoute une très belle Élégie de Fauré dans sa vêture d’orchestre sous la baguette lyrique de Sixten Ehrling. Pourtant, la vraie merveille de ce disque, qui complète idéalement le coffret Decca, se trouve dans le Double Concerto de Brahms que Gendron n’a pas enregistré officiellement. Face à un Arthur Grumiaux aussi discret que subtilement musicien, sous la battue vive et expressive d’Hans Müller-Kray, kappellmeister sous estimé, il emmène ce concerto-poème de cet archet immense et lyrique dont la pointe transforme les notes en mots, et qui n’appartenait qu’à lui.
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