Search - Pierre Monteux, Rostropovitch, Serebryakoff :: Orchestre Symphonique de Paris, Vol. 2.

Premiere recording of LE SACRE real gem

A. Andersen | Bellows Falls, VT USA | 04/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Monteux's interpretations of LE SACRE are of great musical and historical significance in that he premiered the ballet on stage in 1913, as well as conducting the first performances of the work in the concert hall the year after.



Both Monteux and Stokowski released the first recordings of the score (1929) and the Monteux recording is miraculously preserved here. The Stokowski has also been pressed onto cd format and is quite different from Monteux's original take in areas of shading and tempo. (Note that in the ten years separating the original Stokowski take and his re-recording of the score for the 1940 FANTASIA, his tempi and shadings had come more in line witih Monteux's original).



Monteux recorded the score four times. His most famous recording is the mono 1951 Boston Symphony version which is for my money the best- available in a number of cd pressings. He also recorded it for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra - also available on cd (date not given). I have no info on the fourth recording.



Comparing the 1929 original with the 1951, I find very little variation in performance. The Introduction to Part Two is taken a bit more slowly and sensually in 1929 than in 1951, but for the most part Monteux's interpretation had not changed in the 22 years separating the recordings.



The 1929 contains surface noise and at some points quiet murmurs from what seems to be an audience. There is occasional distortion in the original tapes, which gives it a certain charm - and in the instance of this particular piece of music, distortion does not harm the aural experience.



This and the 1929 Stokowski are must-owns alongside the famous 1951 Monteux."