Monteux's Beethoven

[Barbirollians]

Australian Eloquence apparently plan to re-release them next year .The LSO and VPO recordings of the symphonies; the rehearsal of the 9th (plus the La Marseillaise recorded at the sessions!) and also the Concertgebouw "Eroica".

So sounds like their licence for the Westminster Ninth has expired - will be great to see the others though .

[Petrushka]

Australian Eloquence apparently plan to re-release them next year .The LSO and VPO recordings of the symphonies; the rehearsal of the 9th (plus the La Marseillaise recorded at the sessions!) and also the Concertgebouw "Eroica".

So sounds like their licence for the Westminster Ninth has expired - will be great to see the others though .

I picked up the VPO set and the Westminster LSO 9th very cheaply second hand the summer before last and would like to have the remaining LSO recordings so thanks for the alert.

[Ferretfancy]

Barbirollians

Thanks for the advance information I'll be visiting Buywell regularly.

Did you see him conduct ?

[Barbirollians]

Sadly not - he died some years before I was born ! His Ravel Daphnis and Chloe was one of my first records though and he has been a favourite conductor of mine ever since.

[richardfinegold]

Australian Eloquence apparently plan to re-release them next year .The LSO and VPO recordings of the symphonies; the rehearsal of the 9th (plus the La Marseillaise recorded at the sessions!) and also the Concertgebouw "Eroica".

So sounds like their licence for the Westminster Ninth has expired - will be great to see the others though .

I am a huge fan of Monteux. I have had the Beethoven recordings in my collection, including the Westminster 9th, for some time. I also have his Concertgebouw Eroica from 1962 and his mono versions of 2 and 4 with the San Francisco SO.
I had re listened to the Stereo cycle with the VPO and LSO recently, and I have to say while these are very good recordings, they don't reflect Monteux (who was in his mid eighties and older when he made them) at his best. The Pastoral is the best, followed by the Amsterdam Eroica. His Ninth is a huge disappointment--lethargic and tired sounding. 1,2,4 are reasonably competitive, while 5 & 8 are on the sluggish side. In general, his Beethoven recordings are not a s good as his Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky, Berlioz, and Franck recordings from the same period. I'm glad that I own them, but I don't find myself returning to them very often, with the two exceptions noted.

[Ferretfancy]

Sadly not - he died some years before I was born ! His Ravel Daphnis and Chloe was one of my first records though and he has been a favourite conductor of mine ever since.

I saw him conduct Daphnis in the RFH, it's one of my brightest memories, also a concert which included Ravel's Sheherezade with Victoria de los Angeles. As for his recordxings, I don't think he ever made a dud, but I wish there were more!

[gradus]

I too attended many of his LSO concerts in the early sixties. He was an endearing figure as well as a great musician, respected by the players and held in great affection by his audience. There is a splendid photo of him in fireman's uniform (something to do with his admiration of the service) published around the time that he signed his final contract to conduct the LSO for another 10 years - he was in his late eighties at the time. With the possible exception of Beecham, I can't think of another conductor so loved by his public.

[Dave2002]

I am a huge fan of Monteux. I have had the Beethoven recordings in my collection, including the Westminster 9th, for some time. I also have his Concertgebouw Eroica from 1962 and his mono versions of 2 and 4 with the San Francisco SO.
I had re listened to the Stereo cycle with the VPO and LSO recently, and I have to say while these are very good recordings, they don't reflect Monteux (who was in his mid eighties and older when he made them) at his best. The Pastoral is the best, followed by the Amsterdam Eroica. His Ninth is a huge disappointment--lethargic and tired sounding. 1,2,4 are reasonably competitive, while 5 & 8 are on the sluggish side. In general, his Beethoven recordings are not a s good as his Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky, Berlioz, and Franck recordings from the same period. I'm glad that I own them, but I don't find myself returning to them very often, with the two exceptions noted.

His Dvorak 7 is also very good, and I recommend that highly. It's one of a few really good versions. There is also an obscure one by a somewhat unknown conductor who produced them on his own label which is also very good. [Carlos Paita/Lodia]

It's good to note that the Beethoven symphonies are going to be re-released. I think I'm still missing some of them - which became almost impossible to obtain a few years ago (particularly the even ones).

I did see Monteux once - so that dates me. The orchestra stood up as he entered. I can't remember whether the performances were outstanding, though they were certainly very good. I do remember John Pritchard in Daphnis and Chloe though - to me at my young age he was outstanding in that.

[Barbirollians]

The only slight disappointment is that apparently the Beethoven is being released in a 6CD set rather than in separate issues .

[verismissimo]

His Dvorak 7 is also very good, and I recommend that highly...

Oh yes indeed. And his Beethoven 7 too - not mentioned yet. Both among my earliest and best memories of recordings purchased.

[pastoralguy]

The Pastoral is the best...

But of course...

[Dave2002]

The only slight disappointment is that apparently the Beethoven is being released in a 6CD set rather than in separate issues .

That's a bit of a b**mer - it could put the costs up a lot for just a few CDs which I'm currently missing. Maybe high quality downloads will emerge by then.

[Barbirollians]

Oh yes indeed. And his Beethoven 7 too - not mentioned yet. Both among my earliest and best memories of recordings purchased.

I only know the Fourth and Seventh from an old Weekend classics tape - I thought it was a cracking Seventh too . I don't remember much about the Fourth. I do remember being very fed up when it got chewed by a cassette player .

[Dave2002]

I only know the Fourth and Seventh from an old Weekend classics tape - I thought it was a cracking Seventh too . I don't remember much about the Fourth. I do remember being very fed up when it got chewed by a cassette player .

Pity about that - you have also lost out on the ones which are difficult to get. Some of the others are still available at a reasonable price - http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symp.../dp/B00000422R

The new prices on the ones you might want are now high, but there may be affordable used ones - http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symp...ref=pd_sim_m_1

However, if you'd settle for the Israel PO, this of the fourth seems to be available - http://www.hbdirect.com/album/189890...lharmonic.html