Editing Pierre Monteux (section)

===''The Rite of Spring''===
During the 1913 Ballets Russes season in Paris, Monteux conducted two more premieres. The first was ''[[Jeux]]'', with music by Debussy and choreography by Nijinsky. The choreography was not liked; Monteux thought it "asinine",<ref name=m91/> while Debussy felt that "Nijinsky's cruel and barbarous choreography ... trampled over my poor rhythms like so many weeds".<ref>Scheijen, p. 269</ref> The second new work was Stravinsky's ''[[The Rite of Spring]]'' given under the French title, ''Le sacre du printemps''. Monteux had been appalled when Stravinsky first played the score at the piano:
{{quote | 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. ... My one desire was to flee that room and find a quiet corner in which to rest my aching head. Then [Diaghilev] turned to me and with a smile said, "This is a masterpiece, Monteux, which will completely revolutionize music and make you famous, because you are going to conduct it." And, of course, I did.<ref name=m91/>|}}
Despite his initial reaction, Monteux worked with Stravinsky, giving practical advice to help the composer to achieve the orchestral balance and effects he sought.<ref>Mousnier, p. 23; and Canarina, pp. 40–41</ref> Together they worked on the score from March to May 1913, and to get the orchestra of the [[Théâtre des Champs-Élysées]] to cope with the unfamiliar and difficult music Monteux held seventeen rehearsals, an unusually large number.<ref name=m91>Monteux (1965), p. 91</ref> Monteux's real attitude to the score is unclear. In his old age he told a biographer, "I did not like ''Le Sacre'' then. I have conducted it fifty times since. I do not like it now."<ref name=reid>Reid (1961), p. 145</ref> However, he told his wife in 1963 that the ''Rite'' was "now fifty years old, and I do not think it has aged at all. I had pleasure in conducting the fiftieth anniversary of ''Le Sacre'' this spring".<ref>Monteux (1965), p. 93</ref>
[[File:RiteofSpringDancers.jpg|thumb|300px|Dancers in [[Nikolai Roerich]]'s costumes for ''The Rite of Spring'': "knock-kneed and long-haired Lolitas jumping up and down"]]
The dress rehearsal, with Debussy, Ravel, other musicians and critics among those present, passed without incident. However, the following evening the premiere provoked something approaching a riot, with loud verbal abuse of the work, counter-shouts from supporters, and fisticuffs breaking out.<ref name=c43>Canarina, p. 43</ref> Monteux pressed on, continuing to conduct the orchestra regardless of the turmoil behind him.<ref name=c43/> Stravinsky wrote "The image of Monteux's back is more vivid in my mind today than the picture of the stage. He stood there apparently impervious and as nerveless as a crocodile. It is still incredible to me that he actually brought the orchestra through to the end."<ref>Buckle, p. 254</ref> The extensive press coverage of the incident made Monteux "at age thirty-eight, truly a famous conductor".<ref>Canarina, p. 44</ref> The company presented the ''Rite'' during its London season a few weeks later. ''The Times'' reported that although there was "something like a hostile reception" at the first London performance, the final performance in the season "was received with scarcely a sign of opposition".<ref>"The Fusion of Music and Dancing", ''The Times'', 26 July 1913, p. 8</ref> Before the 1913 London performances, Monteux challenged Diaghilev's authority by declaring that he, not the impresario, was the composer's representative in matters related to ''The Rite of Spring''.<ref>Buckle, p. 258</ref>

Monteux believed that most of the anger aroused by the work was due not to the music but to Nijinsky's choreography, described by Stravinsky as "knock-kneed and long-haired Lolitas jumping up and down".<ref>Noble, Jeremy. "Stravinsky – Le Sacre du Printemps", ''The Gramophone'', April 1961, p. 45</ref> With the composer's agreement Monteux presented a concert performance in Paris in April 1914. Saint-Saëns, who was present, declared Stravinsky mad and left in a rage, but he was almost alone in his dislike. At the end Stravinsky was carried shoulder-high from the theatre after what he described as "the most beautiful performance that I have had of the ''Sacre du printemps''".<ref name=Canarina47>Canarina, p. 47</ref> That performance was part of a series of "Concerts Monteux", presented between February and April 1914, in which Monteux conducted the orchestra of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in a wide range of symphonic and [[concertante]] works, including the concert premiere of the orchestral version of Ravel's [[Valses nobles et sentimentales (Ravel)|''Valses nobles et sentimentales'']].<ref>Ravel, p. 576</ref> His last notable engagement before the outbreak of war was as conductor of the premiere of Stravinsky's opera ''[[The Nightingale (opera)|The Nightingale]]'' at the [[Palais Garnier]].<ref name=Canarina47/>