My listening post this morning, Christmas morning, is in front of the tree (now laden with presents to be unwrapped later today), with our cat sitting, ludicrously, in the middle of the floor, and the 1947 holiday movie The Bishop’s Wife on in the background.
The Bishop’s Wife is a classic through and through. It stars the incomparable Cary Grant as Dudley, the angel, David Niven (Henry, the bishop), Loretta Young (Julia, the titular bishop’s wife), Monte Woolley (the professor), and a bunch of character actors any self-respecting movie lover would have seen many times.
Anyway, while Dudley answers Henry’s prayer for help, I’m listening to French-American conductor Pierre Monteux (1875-1964), the Boston Symphony, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor.
In addition, I’m eating my wife’s famous gingerbread cookies, and drinking a cup of fresh-brewed coffee. My wife is sleeping after having spent 10 days straight making, icing, and shipping gingerbread cookies all over America for family and friends. On top of that, she baked two mincemeat pies, and a lemon-curd cheesecake.
Today is the family get-together at my brother’s house where we will feast and laugh about our times growing up. We also chuckle quite a bit about Pops, my late father, who was a colorful chap who said and did many things that we will remember forever.
I’ve encountered Maestro Monteux eight times previously, on…
Day 14. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 32. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 50. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 68. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 85. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 104. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 122. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 140. Rating: “Meh!”
Let’s see, that’s six “Meh!” and two “Huzzah!” ratings.
Chances are good this won’t be a “Huzzah!” performance. But one never can tell.
After all, this is Christmas. If a miracle can’t occur today, when can it?
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 9 in D minor), from this particular conductor (Monteux, at age 85) and this particular orchestra (Boston Symphony Orchestra), at this particular time in history (July 31, 1959) on this particular record label (Memories Reverence) is as follows:
I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso………………….15:11
II. Molto vivace………………………………………..11:08
III. Adagio molto e cantabile……………………………..13:12
IV. Finale…………………………………………….23:29
Total running time: 63:00
My Rating:
Recording quality: 2 (conspicuous tape hiss, lots of ambient noises, including coughing, and shuffling)
Overall musicianship: 3 (seems to be a slightly brisker tempo than other performances to date; hard to tell if they’re playing well because the recording is poor)
CD liner notes: 0 (no liner notes – boo! hiss! – not even time indications: how long is each track?)
How does this make me feel: “Meh!”
Well. No Christmas miracle occurred – other than the one Dudley made happen in the lives of Henry, Julia, the Professor, and all who encountered the Dudley. The ending to The Bishop’s Wife chokes me up.
I wish I could say the same for this performance by Maestro Montreux.
It’s starts with that rain-like tape hiss, a constant “Shhhhhhhhhh” that permeates every note, and never ends.
The total playing time for this performance is only 64 minutes – one of the quickest of any I’ve heard to date. Either Maestro Monteaux left out a lot of Beethoven’s Ninth, or he’s playing it very quickly.
Other conductors (Claudio Abbado, for example), played it quickly (61:37 in Abbado’s case). But they didn’t have to contend with the tape hiss. Either one is a distraction. Both together are a bit of a hurdle to jump.
As for the movements, because of the increase in tempo, and the tape hiss (plus, less-than-ideal recording techniques to begin with), even my beloved Movement II comes up lacking.
Movement IV is married by tape hiss and a frenetic pace. The choir sounds muddy, the voices are miked in such a way that they’re way back in the mix, indistinct and…circus-like. The music suddenly becomes tinny and distant, like I’m hearing it from a wind-up toy, or like circus music from a carnival set up two blocks away. Toward the end (around 23:29), the tape hiss is so loud and the voices so poorly miked and distant, that it’s unlistenable.
I will never listen to this recording again. Life is way too short.
“Meh!”