A little while ago I had the pleasure of
reviewing a WHRA box of 8 CDs containing live performances
by Pierre Monteux and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the 1950s.
That box included all the music given at three concerts and
the bulk of three more programmes. Now the same label is even
more generous in offering 11 CDs – at a price equivalent to
that for seven discs – with material from ten concerts in 1958
and 1959. Not only is the price concession generous, it’s also
realistic for this present set contains a few items – though
not many – that appear in the earlier box. It also includes
a performance of the First Piano Concerto by Brahms in which
Leon Fleisher is the soloist. Fleisher and Monteux appeared
together in the same work in an earlier WHRA set that I
reviewed but the performances are not the same; the one
in this latest set was given in 1958 whereas the earlier set
preserved a 1954 traversal. It will also be noted that this
present box contains two performances of the Brahms Violin Concerto,
though with different soloists. However, I think that the advantageous
price for this set means that collectors need not be unduly
concerned about the relatively small amount of duplication.
The lengths of some of the concert programmes mean that it’s
not always possible to accommodate the full programme for one
concert on a single CD. However, in many cases it’s possible
to hear a complete programme without changing discs. Helpfully,
there’s a complete list of each concert programme near the back
of the booklet; that list contains one small error in that the
Hindemith Nobilissima Visione is not omitted from
the discs, as is suggested. I spotted just one other slight
slip in an otherwise scrupulously documented set: the track
listing indicates that only the Tristan Liebestod is
played but in fact it’s paired, as so often in concert, with
the Prelude.
As we’ll see, the repertoire on these discs plays to a lot of
Le Maître’s well-known strengths, though there are some items
that he never recorded commercially – eight in all, plus the
Wagner soprano arias on CD 5. We’re in largely familiar Monteux
territory on Disc One though the Felix Weingartner arrangement
of the Grosse Fuge – in a muscular performance – is new to the
Monteux discography, I think, as it’s one of those pieces he
never took into the studio. Monteux offers just four items from
Debussy’s Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, which leaves one
wanting more, since what is played here is very polished; Monteux
achieves some translucent textures. In complete contrast stands
Don Juan, which receives a thrusting reading.
Disc Two brings the first of two accounts of the Brahms
Violin Concerto. This one features the Russian, Leonid Kogan,
who had made his US debut, presumably also playing the Brahms,
with Monteux and the BSO the previous day. Kogan is a muscular
soloist in the first movement but neither here nor in the glorious
second movement does he come up short in the work’s lyrical
aspects. He and Monteux make the finale a celebratory affair.
The performance of La Valse is stunning; Monteux brings
out all the hedonism of the piece.
Disc Three brings more Brahms in the shape of the First
Piano Concerto – what a shame there are no symphony performances
in this set as well. Here Monteux teams up once more with Leon
Fleisher - as previously mentioned, WHRA have also issued a
1954 performance by these same artists. I confess that shortage
of time has prevented me from comparing the two performances
but re-reading just now my review of the 1954 traversal I see
that I was pretty impressed by it and I was definitely impressed
with this 1958 account. In a word, it’s superb. Fleisher is
magisterial while Monteux demonstrates that he is both a wonderfully
alert accompanist and also a masterful interpreter of Brahms.
To cap it all, the disc also includes a vibrant, colourful reading
of Petrushka, a Monteux speciality. That must have been
a fabulous concert to attend and we can recreate it in full
by going back to Disc Two and playing the Academic Festival
Overture, which opened proceedings at that July 1958 Tanglewood
concert.
Disc Four takes us mainly to Russia, opening with a brilliant
account of the Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture. Monteux
takes it at an exciting pace but never presses too hard on the
accelerator in the manner of Solti’s LSO recording. And when
we get to the first appearance of the big tune, boy, do those
Boston cellos sing! The Tchaikovsky Fourth that follows is less
to my taste. True, there’s a great deal to admire but I think
Monteux pushes the speed too much at times in the first movement
– the music sounds driven – and in the Moderato con anima
section of the second movement I find him disconcertingly fast.
I checked against the performance of the symphony that’s included
in the previous boxed set, mentioned above, and, unsurprisingly,
since the performances were given in the same year, Monteux’s
pacing is similar. Oddly, I don’t recall it bothering me first
time round but it does now. I’ll pass over the Milhaud piece,
parts of which are far too brutal and uncompromising for my
taste – I don’t blame the performers for that by the way - but
the performance of Debussy’s Nocturnes is quite another
matter. The orchestra plays these pieces quite wonderfully,
guided by the baton of a man who was a master of scores such
as this.
Disc Five preserves an all-Wagner concert, which Monteux
began, intelligently, with glimpses of Wagner’s father-and-son
team, Parsifal and Lohengrin. The Parsifal Prelude is
elevated while the Act I Prelude to Lohengrin is wonderfully
luminous. Indeed, every item on this programme is expertly conducted
and very well played – though here, as elsewhere in the set,
some may join me in being a little less than delighted with
the somewhat forceful and bright tone of the BSO’s principal
trumpet. The programme includes four important soprano solos.
In these the singer is the American soprano, Margaret Harshaw
(1909-1997), who had a long career at The Met (1942–1964), first
as a mezzo then, from the 1950s, as a soprano. She does these
solos very well and, as you’d expect, gets fine support from
her conductor.
The highlight of Disc Six is a performance of the Beethoven
Violin Concerto, featuring the American, Berl Senofsky. I hadn’t
encountered this fine player until fairly recently when I reviewed
a set of New York performances conducted by Sir John Barbirolli,
dating from 1959. There Senofsky was the soloist in the Brahms
concerto, making his debut with the New York Philharmonic. He
impressed me then and he does so again in this Beethoven performance,
given a few months earlier. He’s accurate, pure of intonation
and in complete command of the solo part. He and Monteux offer
a very distinguished performance and Monteux’s reading of the
Leonora No 3 Overture, which follows, is magnificent.
Disc Seven includes Hindemith’s Nobilissima Visione
Suite, surely not staple Monteux fare but he does it very well.
The Don Quixote performance that follows has a number
of points of interest. A few years ago the Boston Symphony Orchestra
brought out a sumptuous set of CDs, entitled Symphony Hall
Centennial Celebration. That included a whole disc devoted
to Monteux performances, including an account of Don Quixote
given by the same performers on 24 January 1959, the day after
the reading now issued by WHRA. I see from the documentation
accompanying the BSO discs that the 23 January performance,
presented by WHRA, has a footnote in history: the concert, given
on a Friday afternoon and broadcast by radio station WGBH, was
the first regularly scheduled concert to be relayed live to
Europe using the Transatlantic Cable; there it was broadcast
by the BBC as well as in France and Belgium. The other point
of interest about this particular performance is that Monteux
uses the orchestra’s principal cellist and violist as soloists,
as the composer intended. So the limelight falls on cellist
Samuel Mayes (1917-1990), who was BSO principal cellist from
1948 to 1964, and on Joseph de Pasquale (b. 1919), who was the
BSO’s principal violist between 1947 and 1964. Both are very
accomplished and characterful in their respective roles. The
accompaniment provided by Monteux and their BSO colleagues is
first rate. Monteux brings out the colour and fantasy in the
piece – and also the theatrical aspects – both humorous and
dramatic. The one snag – and this is a point I’ll come back
to – is that WHRA don’t track separately the individual variations
in the piece; that helpful feature is offered in the BSO’s own
boxed set and, indeed, on most CD versions of the work that
I’ve encountered.
We encounter a sensuous, flexible reading of Prélude à l'après-midi
d'un faune on Disc Eight. I assume the player who
contributes a gorgeous performance of the flute solo is the
orchestra’s then-principal, Doriot Anthony Dwyer. Another French
work follows in the shape of D’Indy’s Symphony on a French
Mountain Air. Here the pianist is Nicole Henriot-Schweitzer,
the niece of Charles Munch. In fact WHRA has preserved another
performance of this same work by her, this time with Munch on
the podium, on its set ‘Charles Munch Conducts a Treasury of
French Music’ (review).
Again, and maddeningly, WHRA don’t track the three movements
separately and this is all the more frustrating when the audience’s
applause and the ‘hall noise’ between each movement is retained;
tracking would have been so easy. The most substantial
piece on the disc is a passionate yet controlled reading of
Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.
Moving to Disc Nine we hear first Respighi’s technicolour
orchestration of Bach’s C minor Passacaglia and Fugue. This
is a bit of a disappointment in that, at least as recorded,
the performance of the Passacaglia in particular sounds rather
brash. The brass – with that first trumpet well to the fore
– are pretty full-on at times and, to be honest, I would have
expected more finesse from Monteux. It’s possible that the acoustic
of the famous Tanglewood Shed was a problem for the radio engineers
though I wasn’t aware of that in any other Tanglewood performances
included here.
The second traversal of the Brahms Violin Concerto features
Isaac Stern in a fine collaboration with Monteux. Stern is commanding
in the first movement. The start of the slow movement is slightly
compromised by quite a bit of audience coughing but the radiant
music wins out. There’s great urgency in the jubilant finale.
More Brahms follows in the shape of Virgil Thomson’s orchestration
of the late organ pieces, the Chorale Preludes, Op. 122. These
could scarcely afford a greater contrast to Respighi’s flamboyant
re-working of Bach’s organ piece. Not only is Brahms’s music
less public than Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue but also, for
the most part, Thomson’s scoring is restrained. Monteux was
performing these orchestrations within a matter of months of
Thomson completing them.
Mendelssohn and Schumann occupy Disc Ten. For me the
highlights are the ‘Italian’ Symphony, which is judiciously
paced by Monteux in an interpretation that’s consistently light
on its feet, and the Schumann Introduction and allegro appassionato.
Here Rudolf Serkin is the excellent soloist. He is very sensitive
in the Introduction – as is the orchestra – while the allegro
lives up to its ‘appassionato’ description. Serkin and Monteux
make the music surge onwards with fine impetus.
Beethoven occupies Disc Eleven. I like Monteux’s way
with the ‘Pastoral’. The first movement isn’t an amiable countryside
ramble – the music has purpose and good energy – but the Scene
by the Brook is warm and relaxed. The third movement is nimble
at first and, later, has rustic vigour while the storm is suitably
turbulent. The finale is satisfying, not least because Monteux’s
direction of the music brings out its inner strength. I’m less
sure about his reading of the Fifth Symphony and, as with Tchaikovsky’s
Fourth, this is down to questions of speed. The basic pulse
for the first movement, in which the exposition repeat is taken,
is very urgent indeed. This sounds to me like the Beethoven
of a young man in a hurry – except that at this time Monteux
was eighty-four years young! It’s all just a bit too hectic
for my taste. The pacing of the second movement is much more
conventional and while the third movement is quite fleet the
music can take it. The finale is, like the first movement, very
fleet of foot. I think Monteux catches the joy and exhilaration
very well but some listeners may feel, as I do, that in so doing
he forfeits a touch of grandeur. However, this performance proves
that, unlike some of his colleagues one could name, Monteux
did not slow up or lose any of his zest with age.
Turning to the presentation, there’s a good booklet with several
pictures of Le Maître and useful – and different - essays in
English and in French. The recordings stem from radio broadcasts,
I believe. Those of concerts from Symphony Hall, Boston, probably
all originate with station WGBH; I’m unsure if their writ extended
also to Tanglewood. The recordings have been re-mastered by
Albert Franz and I’d say he’s done a pretty good job. Most of
the recordings sound good and clear and well balanced; the only
one with which I had any problems was the Bach/Respighi item.
I have concerns, however, about two aspects of the presentation
of the material on the CDs. I’ve already mentioned the disappointing
failure to provide separate tracks in Don Quixote and
the D’Indy work. The same problem occurs in the Debussy Nocturnes
and in Nobilissima Visione. The other irritant is that
in most cases there’s only a very short gap between the end
of one work – or the applause that follows it – and the start
of the next piece. Incidentally, since I know some collectors
dislike hearing applause at the end of live recordings I should
say that usually the applause is retained – and the Bostonian
audience was not usually one to wait for a final chord to die
away before showing its appreciation – although this policy
is not consistent and a few items, including – praise be! –
the Parsifal and Lohengrin preludes are not followed
by applause.
It’s fair to record these cavils but in all honesty they are
minor compared to the great pleasure to be had from the vital
and authoritative music-making that’s on offer in this set.
Monteux’s direction is consistently sure-footed, full of life
and a model of good taste. Here we have a lot of great conducting.
And we have a lot of great playing too. There’s the odd fluff,
as one would expect in some thirteen hours of live music but
the slips are few and far between and of no consequence. What
one notices much, much more is the sheer quality and virtuosity
of the playing, both corporate and individual. In short, this
set contains a collection of magnificent performances.
A little while ago, my colleague, Jonathan Woolf reviewed
another marvellous set of live Monteux performances, this time
with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, issued by another
label. He said of that set “Sixteen hours with Pierre Monteux
is no time at all, so zestful, so clear, so deft his musicianship
and so sympathetic his conducting.” Well, we haven’t quite got
sixteen hours of music in this Boston set but in every other
respect Jonathan’s verdict could have been written a propos
this box. And to hear Monteux leading one of the aristocrats
among world orchestras simply adds to the pleasure. This is
an enriching set, which I have enjoyed enormously. The performances
may be over sixty years old but the artistry of Pierre Monteux
and the Boston Symphony Orchestra reaches across the decades
to bring all these works vividly to life.
John Quinn
Track listing
Disc 1 [65:34]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN/Felix WEINGARTNER
Grosse Fuge [15:57]
Claude DEBUSSY Martyrdom of
St. Sebastian [10:09]
Richard STRAUSS Death and Transfiguration
[23:41]
All rec. 10 January 1958, Symphony Hall, Boston
Richard STRAUSS Don Juan [15:31]
rec. 24 July 1959, Tanglewood
Disc 2 [73:12]
Johannes BRAHMS Violin Concerto
in D major, Op. 77 [36:22]
Leonid Kogan (violin). Rec. 10 January 1958, Symphony Hall,
Boston
Johannes BRAHMS Academic Festival
Overture [10:20]
rec. 20 July 1958, Tanglewood
Maurice RAVEL La Valse [11:11]
Rec. 25 July 1958, Tanglewood
Richard WAGNER Prelude and Liebestod
(Tristan und Isolde) [15:08]
rec. 1 August 1959, Tanglewood
Disc 3 [78:50]
Johannes BRAHMS Piano Concerto
No 1 in D minor, Op. 15 [45:10]
Leon Fleisher (piano).
Igor STRAVINSKY Petrushka [33:31]
All rec. 20 July 1958, Tanglewood
Disc 4 [75:52]
Mikhail GLINKA Ruslan and Ludmilla
– Overture [5:33]
Peter TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No
4 in F minor, Op 36 [39:11]
Darius MILHAUD Les Eumenides
– Act 3 Prelude [7:29]
Claude DEBUSSY Nocturnes [23:30]
All rec. 25 July 1958, Tanglewood
Disc 5 [78:46]
Richard WAGNER Parsifal: Prelude
[14:25]
Parsifal: Ich sah das Kind [4:23]
Lohengrin: Prelude [9:18]
Lohengrin: Einsam in trüben Tagen [6:08]
Rienzi: Overture [11:33]
Der fliegende Holländer: Overture [9:06]
Der fliegende Holländer: Trafft ihr das Schiff [6:29]
Siegfried: Forest Murmurs [8:40]
Tannhäuser: Dich, teure Halle [3:03]
Die Walküre: Walküneritt [4:59]
Margaret Harshaw (soprano).
All rec. 3 August 1958, Tanglewood
Disc 6 [70:20]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Creatures
of Prometheus [12:54]
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 [43:59]
Leonore Overture No 3 [13:15]
Berl Senofsky (violin)
All rec. 9 August 1958, Tanglewood
Disc 7 [79:47]
Johannes BRAHMS Tragic Overture,
Op 81 [13:28]
Paul HINDEMITH Nobilissima Visione
[19:28
Richard STRAUSS Don Quixote
[39:13]
Samuel Mayes (cello); Joseph de Pasquale (viola).
All rec. 23 January 1959, Symphony Hall, Boston
Nicolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Le coq
d’or – Introduction and Wedding March [7:27]
rec. 19 July 1959, Tanglewood
Disc 8 [76:19]
Claude DEBUSSY Prelude to the
Afternoon of a Faun [9:30]
Vincent D’INDY Symphony on a
French Mountain Air [24:45]
Peter TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No
5 in E minor, Op. 64 [41:49]
Nicole Henriot-Schweitzer (piano)
All rec. 19 July 1959, Tanglewood
Disc 9 [69:42]
Johann Sebastian BACH/Ottorino RESPIGHI
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor [12:41]
Johannes BRAHMS Violin Concerto
in D major, Op. 77 [36:42]
Johannes BRAHMS/Virgil THOMSON 11
Chorale Preludes, Op. 122 [19:50]
Isaac Stern (violin)
All rec. 24 July 1959, Tanglewood
Disc 10 [77:14]
Felix MENDELSSOHN Symphony No
4 in A major, Op 90 (‘Italian’) [28:03]
Piano Concerto No 1 in G minor, Op 25 [18:58]
Robert SCHUMANN Manfred Overture
[12:33]
Introduction and allegro appassionato [16:21]
Rudolf Serkin (piano)
All rec. 1 August, 1959, Tanglewood
Disc 11 [76:18]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Fidelio
Overture [6:18]
Symphony No 6 in F major, Op 68 [40:33]
Symphony No 5 in C minor, Op. 67 [29:12]
All rec. 8 August, 1959, Tanglewood
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux 