Teldec’s two Art of Conducting videos give merely a hint of the treasures still locked in the vaults of film archives and TV stations. Thanks to pioneers like VAI, we’re now able to view six volumes in what promises to be a series of programs from the archives of the Chicago Symphony and television station WGN. The first featured Music Director Fritz Reiner, and this third one in the series focuses on guest conductor Pierre Monteux during a January 1961 broadcast.
I must confess to having a blind spot for this distinguished, long-lived, and celebrated conductor. Monteux participated in many historic premiere performances, not least of which was Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps in 1913. He had a broad repertoire that included, aside from the famous works of the French repertoire, Beethoven, Brahms, and Wagner. He loved America and Americans, taking U.S. citizenship in the 1940s while serving as conductor of the San Francisco Symphony.
So it pains me to say that Monteux, by far the oldest conductor to appear so far in VAI’s series, shows every day of his years. He signals the music sparely but precisely. And if this were all that were needed, these would be memorable performances. But then, if you make the comparison that I did between the 85-year-old Monteux’s “Allegretto scherzando” from Beethoven’s Eighth and the 85-year-old Toscanini’s version of the same work from 1952, you hear from the first bar that Toscanini is alive to the humor and delicacy of Beethoven’s music; Monteux seems willing to do little more than beat time. And so it goes. Purchase this only if you want to see a famous conductor with a superb orchestra. Otherwise, take a pass.
