MONTEUX, PIERRE

MONTEUX, PIERRE (1875–1964), conductor. Born in Paris, Monteux studied at the Paris Conservatoire where he won the first prize for violin in 1896. He played the viola in various orchestras and founded an orchestra of his own, the Concerts Berlioz. From 1911 to 1914 he conducted the Ballets Russes of Diaghilev, giving the first performances of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloë, Debussy's Jeux, and Stravinsky's Petrouchka, Le Sacre du Printemps, and Le Rossignol. He was conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1917 to 1919 and then of the Boston Symphony Orchestra until 1924. From 1924 to 1934 he appeared as second conductor of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He founded the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris (1929–38), and from 1936 to 1952 he was director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Monteux's conducting was faithful to the intentions of the composer and combined brilliant technique with profound musical culture. From 1961 until his death, Monteux was chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Baker, Biog. Dict; Riemann-Gurlitt; Grove, Dict.; MGG. (Claude Abravanel)