If this seems short
measure at less that three quarters
of an hour playing time, all is forgiven
by a miraculous finale to Tchaikovsky’s
last symphony. Throughout, Monteux’s
mastery of both his orchestra and Tchaikovsky’s
symphonic canvas is utterly masterly.
As the blurb on the disc states, this
recording dates from Monteux’s reunion
with the Bostonians, an orchestra he
had commanded in the 1920s. If the recording
data is correct, this was recorded in
a single day, a monumental achievement
it is difficult to imagine, even today
with our alleged super-orchestras.
The recording is of
huge dynamic range, as it needs to be
with this of all pieces. Thus the hushed
and concentrated language of the first
movement’s Adagio first section (it
seems demeaning to call it an introduction)
is perfectly caught. It seems that there
is a lifetime’s experience going into
this; indeed, Monteux, born April 1875,
was all but an octogenarian at the time
of recording! Definition in the strings
is amazing in the first section of the
Allegro non troppo. Perhaps the second
subject does not creep in miraculously,
there is some lower-voltage playing
in the development and a spot-lit trumpet
can disturb (around 7’10ff). Yet on
the credit side are perfectly-placed
cross-rhythms, extremely fine pacing
and phrasing and strings (around 12’40)
surging forth like so much molten lava.
The bright and breezy
Allegro con grazia, with its contrastive
‘sighs’ works well. Here, as in the
ensuing, chattering Allegro molto vivace,
Monteux ensures that if there are references
to the world of ballet, they are all
encased firmly within a resolutely symphonic
whole.
And so to that finale
I described as ‘miraculous’. It is –
a miracle of control and of shaping;
how tender the Bostonian strings can
be. The final desolation is fully there
as the music expires into silence.
This is a ‘Pathétique’
finale to sit with the greatest. In
terms of intensity, there is the feeling
that the finale under Monteux is what
Bernstein was aiming at in his infamous
late DG recording and maybe even achieved,
live. Monteux succeeds without resorting
to emotional extremes and, in doing
so, avoids the bathetic.
Colin Clarke
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux. 
RCA
RED SEAL LIVING STEREO SACD 82876 61397 2
[44’14]
