|
This series is undoubtedly of the greatest archival value and
interest to the collector, but one must keep a sense of proportion in
judging the performances preserved for posterity, for not all of them
are consistently of the highest standard. Of the four works listed here
it is unsurprising that the best playing is in the last, written by Monteux's
compatriot Berlioz. It was in French music that this vitally important
conductor, a protagonist in so many of the 20th century's most historical
musical events (such as the 1913 premiere in Paris of Stravinsky's Rite
of Spring, and the music of Debussy and Ravel) was at his best. It is
also the best of the three featured orchestras, and puts the other two
well into the shade, with some woefully inadequate oboe playing in both
of them.
Monteux was one of the best examples of a conductor enjoying an Indian
summer and producing amazingly youthful interpretations despite his
great age, whereas most of the rest (Boult, Klemperer, Stokowski to
name but three) could not match him. The twinkle in his eye, his genuine
popularity among players (though whether he generated that when he was
fifty rather than eighty is a moot point, for most conductors automatically
get brownie points simply for having survived so long), and above all,
his modesty all contribute to sparkling accounts from the 'Maître',
as he was known. The face was largely hidden by the walrus moustache,
but the eyes always twinkled, the body barely moving in unostentatious
fashion on the podium, but there was also his supreme mastery of stick
technique.
He would not be my first choice for the German masters but his Beethoven
has a sense of measured architectural sweep, particularly in the Eroica
which was one of his special favourites, while his Strauss gets to the
heart of the vivid orchestration, avoiding turgid textures in his translucent
approach, each episode of the lover's life clearly defined. Cherubini's
overture gets off to a sluggish start before finding the Monteux sparkle.
Christopher Fifield
|
Pierre Monteux (conductor)