Editing Pierre Monteux (section)

===Ballets Russes===
For some time, Monteux's marriage had been under strain, exacerbated by his wife's frequent absences on concert tours. The couple were divorced in 1909; Monteux married one of her former pupils, Germaine Benedictus, the following year.<ref name=c26>Canarina, p. 26</ref>

Monteux continued to play in the Concerts Colonne through the first decade of the century. In 1910 Colonne died and was succeeded as principal conductor by [[Gabriel Pierné]].<ref name=c30>Canarina, pp. 30–31</ref> As well as leading the violas, Monteux was assistant conductor, taking charge of early rehearsals and acting as chorus master for choral works.<ref name=c30/> In 1910 the orchestra was engaged to play for a Paris season given by [[Sergei Diaghilev]]'s ballet company, the [[Ballets Russes]]. Monteux played under Pierné in the world premiere of [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]]'s ''[[The Firebird]]''. In 1911 Diaghilev engaged [[Nikolai Tcherepnin]] to conduct the premiere of Stravinsky's ''[[Petrushka (ballet)|Petrushka]]''. Monteux conducted the preliminary rehearsals before Tcherepnin arrived; Stravinsky was so impressed that he insisted that Monteux conduct the premiere.<ref>Canarina, p. 31</ref>

[[File:Stravinsky-Nijinsky-Petrouchka.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]] (l) with [[Vaslav Nijinsky|Nijinsky]] as Petrushka, 1911]]
''Petrushka'' was part of a triple bill, all conducted by Monteux.  The other two pieces were ''[[Le Spectre de la Rose]]'' and ''Scheherazade'', a balletic adaptation of [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s symphonic suite of the [[Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)|same name]]. The three works were choreographed by [[Michel Fokine|Fokine]].<ref name=c32>Canarina, p. 32</ref> In later years Monteux disapproved of the appropriation of symphonic music for ballets, but he made an exception for ''Scheherazade'', and, as his biographer John Canarina observes, at that stage in his career his views on the matter carried little weight.<ref name=c32/> ''Petrushka'' was a success with the public and with all but the most diehard conservative critics.<ref>Scheijen, p. 228</ref>

Following the Paris season Diaghilev appointed Monteux principal conductor for a tour of Europe in late 1911 and early 1912. It began with a five-week season at the [[Royal Opera House]] in London.<ref>Scheijen, pp. 236–239</ref> The press notices concentrated on the dancers, who included [[Anna Pavlova]] as well as the regular stars of the Ballets Russes,<ref>"Music in London – Mme. Pavlova at Covent Garden", ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'', 31 October 1911, p. 7</ref> but Monteux received some words of praise. ''[[The Times]]'' commented on the excellent unanimity he secured from the players, apart from "occasional uncertainty in the changes of ''tempo''."<ref>"The Russian Ballet", ''The Times'', 17 October 1911, p. 6</ref>

After its season in London the company performed in Vienna, Budapest, Prague and Berlin.<ref name=c32/> The tour was successful, artistically and financially, but was not without untoward incident. A planned visit to St Petersburg had to be cancelled because the Narodny Dom theatre burned down,<ref>Scheijen, pp. 238–239</ref> and in Vienna the [[Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra|Philharmonic]] was unequal to the difficulties of the score of ''Petrushka''.<ref>Scheijen, p. 266; and Monteux, p. 85</ref> The illustrious orchestra revolted at the rehearsal for the first performance, refusing to play for Monteux; only an intervention by Diaghilev restored the rehearsal, by the end of which Monteux was applauded and Stravinsky given an ovation.<ref>Nijinska, pp. 455–456</ref> In the middle of the tour Monteux was briefly summoned back to Paris by the Concerts Colonne, which had the contractual right to recall him, to deputise for Pierné; his own deputy, [[Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht]], took temporary musical charge of the Ballets Russes.<ref name=c33>Canarina, p. 33</ref><ref name=c34>Canarina, p. 34</ref>

In May 1912 Diaghilev's company returned to Paris. Monteux was the conductor for the two outstanding works of the season, [[Vaslav Nijinsky]]'s ballet version of [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]'s ''[[Afternoon of a Faun (Nijinsky)|Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune]]'', made with the composer's approval,<ref>Scheijen, p. 240</ref> and Fokine's ''[[Daphnis et Chloé]]'' to a score commissioned from [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]].<ref>Scheijen, p. 244</ref> Monteux later recalled "Debussy was behind me when we played ''L'après midi d'un faune'' because he did not want anything in his score to be changed on account of the dancing. And when we came to a forte, he said 'Monteux, that is a forte, play forte'. He did not want anything shimmering. And he wanted everything exactly in time".<ref>Nichols (1992), p. 186</ref>

In February and March 1913 the Ballets Russes presented another London season. As in 1911, the local orchestra engaged was the Beecham Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra's founder, [[Thomas Beecham]], shared the conducting with Monteux. At the end of February Beecham had to take over ''Petrushka'' when Monteux suddenly hastened to Paris for four days to be with his wife on the birth of their daughter, Denise.{{refn|group=n|Beecham learnt the score at two days' notice, but he managed a successful performance with the help of his players, prompting Nijinsky's only known joke: "How well the orchestra is conducting Mr Beecham tonight".<ref>Reid (1961), p. 140</ref>}}