Pierre Monteux, Maitre.

Gottlieb, Jane

Pierre Monteux, Maitre. By John Canarina; forward by Neville Marriner. Pompton Plains, NJ: Amadeus Press, 2003. [372 p. ISBN 1-57467-082-4 $29.95.] Illustrations, discography, bibliography, index.

In his loving and detailed biography of Pierre Monteux (1875-1964), John Canarina seeks to shed new light on the conductor who was responsible for the premieres of Stravinsky's Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, and The Nightingale; Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe; and Debussy's Jeux. While many know of Monteux's connection with the legendary premiere of The Rite of Spring, few perhaps think of him as the conductor who made the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra a professional ensemble, or one whose performances and recordings of works of Beethoven and Brahms were heralded by musicians and audiences alike.

Canarina, who was a student of Monteux, undertook this project to address the lacunae in published book sources about the conductor. Prior to Canarina's book, the only book sources were two by Monteux's third wife, Doris. As Canarina points out in his preface (p. 12), the first of her books, Everyone is Someone (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1962) was written under the name of the couple's pet dog, Fifi Monteux. Doris published her next book It's All in the Music (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965) under her own name, and Canarina frequently refers to it (through text-inserted references) in his volume.

Canarina acknowledges that "perhaps it was difficult to write about Monteux for the simple reason that there was very little about him that was controversial" (p. 12). Even with his connection to the notorious premiere of The Rite of Spring, the portly, affable Monteux did not attract scholarly or even novelistic interest (with the exception of the books by his wife).

Canarina corrects this gap through his incredibly detailed chronicle of Monteux's life. The conductor's daughter Nancie Monteux-Barendese provided the author with the surviving documents in her possession, including clippings, correspondence, photographs, and other memorabilia. Canarina chronicles the details of his life and background from his ancestors in the city of Monteux (near Sete in the south of France, home to many Sephardic Jews), to his studies at the Paris Conservatoire (first on the violin; later on the viola, with harmony and counterpoint studies with Albert Lavignac and Charles Lenepveu respectively), and his first conducting opportunities. In 1911 he was engaged to rehearse Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Orchestra for the premiere of Stravinsky's Petrushka, which was to be conducted by Nikolai Tcherepnin (1873-1945). Stravinsky was so impressed with Monteux's quick command of his complex score that he insisted that Monteux conduct the premiere performance, thus beginning the conductor's providential association with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes.

Canarina's chapter on Monteux's connection with the legendary premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in Paris on 29 May 1913 repeats some quotes found in other sources, such as his first reaction to hearing the composer play the work on the piano (relayed by Doris Monteux): "My own head ached terribly, and I decided then and there that the symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms were the only music for me, not the music of this crazy Russian!" (p. 40), as well as Monteux's specific corrections to the score in a letter sent to Stravinsky on 30 March 1913 (p. 41; quoted in Robert Craft's Stravinsky: Selected Correspondence, 3 vols. [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984], 1:53). This is somewhat disappointing, and one can only assume that the Monteux collection that Canarina worked from did not have additional primary source material on this historic event, such as Stravinsky's notes to the conductor.

While the The Rite of Spring premiere certainly put the spotlight on Monteux, so to speak, it did not automatically send him to a secure conducting post. In August 1914 he was called up to serve in the French army (an experience humorously recounted by Canarina). His enlistment did not prevent him from traveling to New York with the Ballets Russes, which brought him into contact with impresario and Metropolitan Opera House director Otto Kahn.

Kahn engaged Monteux to conduct French repertoire at the Met for the 1917-1920 seasons. Although Monteux was certainly close to the French repertoire, having presented premieres of works by Debussy and Ravel, he later chafed at what he considered to be this limited association. Following his Met engagement, he conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1920 to 1924. Although critically acclaimed and beloved by musicians, the orchestra informed Monteux in 1924 that he would be succeeded by Serge Koussevitzky because their policy was to change conductors every five years. As Canarina points out, this policy was belied by the longer tenures of many of Monteux's predecessors and successors (Koussevitzky held this post until 1949); he conjectures that his contract was not continued because Boston society was uncomfortable with Monteux's public association with Doris Hodgkins (who would soon become his third wife), while still married to his second wife, Germaine, who had returned to Paris.

After leaving Boston Monteux returned to Europe and was engaged as conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, a post he retained for ten years. During this time he also established his conducting school (L'Ecole Monteux) in Paris, and returned to the United States for conducting appearances at the Hollywood Bowl and Lewisohn Stadium. He made numerous appearances at the latter venue throughout his career, and Canarina devotes an entire chapter to Monteux's guest appearances there and at other outdoor summer venues. His summers were also devoted in part to teaching; L'Ecole Monteux eventually moved from Paris to Hancock, Maine. Monteux's students included Erich Kunzel, Neville Marriner (who contributed the foreword to Canarina's book), Lorin Maazel, Andre Previn, David Zinman, and the critic Samuel Lipman.

In 1936 Monteux was appointed conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, and he is credited with making that orchestra into a truly professional ensemble. By this time there was more widespread knowledge of his artistry, and he was frequently engaged as guest director by numerous orchestras in the United States and Europe. His final post was as conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until his death.

Monteux was a true champion of contemporary music; Canarina provides a list of the works he premiered at the end of his book, as well as a discography. The conductor doggedly stood by his belief in the Dutch composer Wilhelm Pijper (whose Symphony No. 3 he had premiered in Amsterdam in 1926), even when audiences and critics were lukewarm.

In his preface Canarina states that he endeavored to "present a balanced picture of his life and works, not an exercise in hagiography" (p. 13), and he largely achieves this goal. He does not shy away from pointing out some of "Maitre's" faults, such as his insistence on not realizing figured bass in a performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 (he justified this by using the Bach-Gesellschaft edition, which did not realize the figures, therefore he was presenting an "authentic" performance [p. 200]). Although he quotes from both positive and negative reviews of his performances and recordings, in his goal of bringing new appreciation for the neglected conductor, he perhaps relies more on the former. His last chapter is titled "Closing Thoughts" and here I had hoped to find some of his own perspectives on his teacher after completing the book. Instead, this chapter includes memorial statements by Leon Fleischer, David Zinman, and Isaac Stern. While certainly moving tributes, this conclusion leaves the impression that true balance was perhaps difficult to achieve.

Canarina creates his impressive and detailed narrative in part through quotes from numerous contemporaneous reviews of Monteux's concerts and recordings. Unfortunately, it will be quite difficult for future researchers to reconstruct a contemporary performer's life from such materials, as in our time the remaining newspapers in major cities have significantly curtailed their reviews of classical music performances.

The book is also interesting as a portrait of Monteux's time and his important associations. We hope that the archival materials that were made accessible to Canarina will someday find their way to a library or archival collection, so they may be preserved and consulted by others who wish to explore and assess Pierre Monteux's important legacy.

JANE GOTTLIEB

Juilliard School