Debussy: Cello Sonata

[Tapiola]

Does anyone own or have knowledge of any inter-war recordings of Debussy's Cello Sonata? I am looking for any recordings - if they exist - of this work made in the 1920s or 1930s. I have so far drawn a blank; the Presto Classical website lists available versions of the work, the earliest being from the late '40s (Piatigorsky).

Any information greatly appreciated.

[makropulos]

Does anyone own or have knowledge of any inter-war recordings of Debussy's Cello Sonata? I am looking for any recordings - if they exist - of this work made in the 1920s or 1930s. I have so far drawn a blank; the Presto Classical website lists available versions of the work, the earliest being from the late '40s (Piatigorsky).

Any information greatly appreciated.

Maurice Maréchal with Robert Casadesus, recorded on 3 June 1930 (there's a bit of confusion over dates - it's sometimes said to be 1935) is a wonderful performance. I don't know if it's available easily at the moment but there have been several CD reissues of it including Sony Classical 5033842 and Pearl GEMM 9348.

[Bryn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF1u34pShDk

[amateur51]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF1u34pShDk

Bravo Bryn

[Bryn]

Maurice Maréchal with Robert Casadesus, recorded on 3 June 1930 (there's a bit of confusion over dates - it's sometimes said to be 1935) is a wonderful performance. I don't know if it's available easily at the moment but there have been several CD reissues of it including Sony Classical 5033842 and Pearl GEMM 9348.

makropulos, do you know if the same performers re-recorded it in the '40s? I have seen a reference to the Sony issue being of a 1942 recording.

[Tapiola]

Guys

[makropulos]

makropulos, do you know if the same performers re-recorded it in the '40s? I have seen a reference to the Sony issue being of a 1942 recording.

Bryn - I don't think that can be right for geographical and political reasons - Maréchal stayed in France during the Occupation (he was appointed as Professor of Cello at the Conservatoire in 1942) while Casadesus fled to the US right after the fall of France in 1940. As far as I know there's only the one performance - that you've cleverly found on youtube. That's the one I know, and I *think* it's the same one that's on the Sony disc, but I don't have that to hand to check. It's certainly the same as the Pearl one, and an earlier LP transfer that I've got somewhere.

[Bryn]

Nothing clever about it, I simply Googled "debussy cello sonata casadesus" and up it popped. I was looking for a CD of it, actually.

[makropulos]

Nothing clever about it, I simply Googled "debussy cello sonata casadesus" and up it popped. I was looking for a CD of it, actually.

Ah - well I'm glad someone's put it there as it's a bit of pain to find it on CD at the moment.
I think I can see where the 1942 confusion might have come from. Here's the Sony release:

http://www.amazon.fr/Bartok-percussion-Debussy--Sonate-violoncelle/dp/B00005KKNP/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314712820&sr=8-2

The Violin Sonata with Francescatti on this CD looks to be 1942 (it's hard to see, and my copy is in storage at the moment). But the Cello Sonata is 1930 and I think that's what it says here (though again it's almost unreadable with such a low-res scan).

[Tapiola]

Thanks again to all for the information on the Maréchal recording. After much trawling - and ignoring the silly second hand prices on some Amazon sites - the best I can determine currently is a new copy from Amazon Canada, delivered for just short of £19. This Pearl disc also contains the other two late Debussy sonatas in vintage recordings featuring Thibaud, Moyse and Laskine, as well as the saxophone rhapsody and the two "Danses". Estimated delivery date, however, is mid-November!