Brahms: Symphony No.3 / Schumann: Symphony No.4

Artistic Quality: 6 Sound Quality: 5 While the CD booklet for this release offers a detailed appreciation of Pierre Monteux’s long and historically important career, it’s unfortunate that these broadcast performances don’t really deliver the goods. In the interest of fairness I should say that the cloudy, boxy mono recordings make it difficult to hear inner orchestral details–an acute liability in the Brahms–that does not show off the BBC Orchestra at its best (the opening brass chords are so crudely balanced that for a second I thought I was listening to a piece by William Schuman). Slow tempos predominate in this reading, with only the third movement possessing Monteux’s famed sweep and flair (even the finale drags a bit). Featured on the same program (November, 1962, in Town Hall, Manchester) is Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, here done with suitable drive if a little lacking in color. The Schumann Fourth (from a Royal Festival Hall concert in October, 1961) is another matter entirely. Here Monteux’s rhythmic vitality and interpretive imagination are fully on display in a reading that is beautifully proportioned and very exciting, even given the recording’s dreary sonics. In sum, a curiosity, but certainly not a must-have. Review by: Victor Carr Jr, classicstoday.com