All of these performances
formed part of RCA’s extensive 15 CD
Monteux edition, one that allowed greater
appreciation of his San Franciscan tenure.
The centrepiece is Scheherezade, with
the orchestra’s leader Naoum Blinder
as the spellbinding violinist. The recording
is notable for the cut and thrust of
Monteux’s conducting, the driving, forward-moving
tempi he adopts and the symphonic cohesion
of his conception. Solos are generally
excellent, if not quite stellar – and
there are a few passing moments of awry
horn tuning in the first movement. Blinder
has a quick, tight vibrato capable of
considerable allure and the recording
highlights, graphically, his powers
of projection and personality. Not for
nothing had he made solo discs and –
a nice touch – Archipel prints a photograph
of him in their otherwise hair-shirt
booklet. Monteux’s performance here
might surprise those unfamiliar with
his tenure of this orchestra as well
as those who only know his 1960s discs
– he encourages brassy stentorian playing
in the last movement, fierce percussion;
it’s never raucous or unmusical, though,
even if there were moments in the third
movement when he does tend to drive
when greater rewards might have accrued
through subtle relaxation of tempi.
All in all though a high voltage reading
in rather up-front sound.
That his Ravel should
be so convincing won’t come as much
of a surprise. La Valse is wonderfully
controlled in every respect – the famed
Monteux rhythm much in evidence again
and achieved through a superb series
of rubati. Alborada del gracioso is
evocative, colourful and crisp as well.
We end with Suite No.1 from Daphnis
et Chloé, a work of which Monteux
gave the premiere. There’s no doubt
in my mind that few understood Debussy
better than Monteux and if his later
remakes of these and other works were
impressive documents, there’s an added
frisson and drive to these readings
that I find irresistible. The only drawback
is the relative blatancy of the recordings.
Archipel clearly haven’t
used original source material but have
tended to over process whatever CD –
maybe RCA’s - they’ve located. I don’t
really like the result – it’s too compressed
and I’d advise seeking out the RCA transfers.
But Monteux’s performances are a must-have.
Jonathan Woolf
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San Francisco Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux
