Editing Pierre Monteux (section)

===London===
Since his first visit to London with the Ballets Russes in 1911, Monteux had had a "love affair with London and with British musicians".<ref name=c33/> He had conducted for the fledgling [[BBC]] in an orchestral concert at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] in 1924,<ref>"B.B.C. Orchestral Concert", ''The Times'', 11 December 1924, p. 12</ref> where he conducted the first public performance of the BBC Wireless Orchestra,<ref name="CRCTolansky">Tolansky, John. "Monteux in London", ''Classic Record Collector'', Autumn 2003, Number 34, pp. 16, 17 and 19</ref> and for the [[Royal Philharmonic Society]] at the [[Queen's Hall]] in the 1920s and 1930s.<ref>"Royal Philharmonic Society – Arthur Bliss's New Work", ''The Times'', 28 January 1927, p. 12; and "French Music", ''The Times'', 16 March 1934, p. 12</ref> In 1932 he was one of four conductors who took charge of the [[The Hallé|Hallé Orchestra]] in Manchester in the absence of its principal conductor; the other three substitutes were [[Edward Elgar|Sir Edward Elgar]], Beecham and the young Barbirolli.<ref>"The 75th Season of the Hallé Concerts", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 15 October 1932, p. 1</ref> The Hallé players were immensely impressed with Monteux, and said that his orchestral technique and knowledge easily beat those of most other conductors.<ref name=cardus/> In 1951 he conducted the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] in a concert of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], Beethoven and [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]] in the new [[Royal Festival Hall]],<ref>"Royal Festival Hall", ''The Times'', 7 February 1951, p. 10</ref> and made further appearances with London orchestras during the rest of the 1950s. He would have made more but for Britain's strict quarantine laws, which prevented the Monteuxs from bringing their pet French poodle with them; Doris Monteux would not travel without the poodle, and Monteux would not travel without his wife.<ref>Canarina, p. 282</ref>

{{Quote box |bgcolor=#F5F6CE |salign=right| quote = In Paris I used to think that any concert I conducted was a failure if it did not create a scandal; in Britain and America audiences are much more polite.| source =Pierre Monteux<ref name=times102/>|align=right| width=250px}}

In June 1958 Monteux conducted the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] (LSO) in three concerts, described by the orchestra's historian [[Richard Morrison (music critic)|Richard Morrison]] as "a sensation with players, press and public alike."<ref name=rm135>Morrison, p. 135</ref> The first concert included Elgar's ''[[Enigma Variations]]'', in which Cardus judged Monteux to be more faithful to Elgar's conception than English conductors generally were. Cardus added, "After the performance of the 'Enigma' Variations, the large audience cheered and clapped Monteux for several minutes. This applause, moreover, broke out just before the interval. English audiences are not as a rule inclined to waste time applauding at or during an interval: they usually have other things to do."<ref>Cardus, Neville. "'Enigma' Variations Played as Conceived by Elgar Himself: Pierre Monteux conducts the L.S.O.", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 16 June 1958, p. 5</ref> Monteux considered British concertgoers "the most attentive in the world", and British music critics "the most intelligent".<ref name=mapplebeck/> However, a disadvantage of conducting a London orchestra was having to perform at the Festival Hall, of which he shared with Beecham and other conductors an intense dislike: "from the conductor's rostrum it is impossible to hear the violins".<ref name=mapplebeck>Mapplebeck, John. "The Gentle Conductor", ''The Guardian'', 17 November 1960, p. 9</ref>

Monteux's later London performances were not only with the LSO. In 1960 he conducted Beecham's [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] performing "feats of wizardry" in works by Beethoven, Debussy and [[Paul Hindemith|Hindemith]].<ref>Tracey, Edmund. "Seven Lively Sins", ''[[The Observer]]'' 17 April 1960, p. 22</ref> The LSO offered him the post of principal conductor in 1961, when he was eighty-six; he accepted, on condition that he had a contract for twenty-five years, with an option of renewal.<ref>Morrison, p. 136</ref> His large and varied repertoire was displayed in his LSO concerts. In addition to the French repertoire with which, to his occasional irritation, he was generally associated, he programmed Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Wagner, as well as later composers including [[Enrique Granados|Granados]], [[Arnold Schoenberg|Schoenberg]], [[Alexander Scriabin|Scriabin]], [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]], [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]], Richard Strauss and [[Ralph Vaughan Williams|Vaughan Williams]].<ref>"Success After Squalls", ''The Times'', 11 December 1961, p. 5 (Mozart, Schoenberg and Strauss); "London Orchestra's Concert Series", ''The Times'', 14 September 1961, p. 16 (Beethoven); "Divergent Views of Brahms", The Times, 8 May 1963, p. 5 (Brahms); "Monteux and the L.S.O.", ''The Times'', 11 December 1961, p. 5 (Wagner); " Miss de los Angeles Charms Audience with Berlioz", ''The Times'', 8 December 1962, p. 4 (Granados); "How Russian Composers Find our Music", ''The Times'', 22 May 1961, p. 11 (Scriabin); "Russian Music by the L.S.O.", ''The Times'', 19 May 1962, p. 8 (Shostakovich); "High Quality in Beethoven", ''The Times'', 26 November 1962, p. 14 (Sibelius); "L.S.O. Jubilee Season Opens", ''The Times'', 25 September 1963, p. 13 (Vaughan Williams)</ref> With the LSO, Monteux gave a fiftieth anniversary performance of ''The Rite of Spring'' at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in the presence of the composer.<ref>Morrison, p. 137</ref> Although the recording of the occasion reveals some lapses of ensemble and slack rhythms, it was an intense and emotional concert, and Monteux climbed up to Stravinsky's box to embrace him at the end.<ref name="CRCTolansky"/>{{refn|group=n|According to Stravinsky's friend [[Isaiah Berlin]], the composer was initially reluctant to attend this event, and made other arrangements for the evening. He was finally persuaded that he should go; different accounts report his arrival in the middle or towards the end of the performance.<ref>Hill, p. 102</ref>}} Players believed that in his few years in charge he transformed the LSO; Neville Marriner felt that he "made them feel like an international orchestra ... He gave them extended horizons and some of his achievements with the orchestra, both at home and abroad, gave them quite a different constitution."<ref name="CRCTolansky"/>