Pierre Monteux (1875-1964) was Parisian born and studied at that city’s Conservatoire from the age of nine, eventually sharing first prize for his violin playing with Jacques Thibaud in 1896. He then changed to the viola and played in the Opéra-Comique Orchestra.

He conducted for Dyagilev’s Ballet Russes from 1911 to 1914, when he gave the première of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé (1912), Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps and Debussy’s Jeux (both 1913). Monteux first conducted in London in 1913 and made his New York début in November 1917 and conducted French operas for the following two seasons. He was musical director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1920-24) and associate director of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam (1924-34) in addition to founding the Paris Symphony Orchestra, which he directed from 1929 until 1938.

He was also conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (1936-52). He returned to the Metropolitan in New York in 1953 for three seasons. At the age of 84 Monteux was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, stipulating a 25-year contract.

He also held conducting classes at his home in Hancock, Maine, from 1941 until his death. He was universally respected and loved by orchestral musicians the world over, as well as being a superb interpreter of French, German and Russian music. He left a vast legacy of recordings but only three operas.