Carlos Kleiber-Maestro of the Ages
In any field of endeavor, there are a few divine gems that only come around once in many generations. Einstein in science, Mark Twain in literature, or Michealangelo in art. In the realm of classical music , the renowned conductor Carlos Kleiber was one of these amazing beings. Mysterious and aloof, this genius rocked the music world every time he was on the podium.
Son of the famed German conductor Erich Kleiber, Carlos was born Karl Ludwig Kleiber in 1930. He was born in Germany, however lived most of his childhood abroad. His father resigned from the Berlin Opera in opposition to the policies of the rising Nazi party in Germany. They fled the country in 1935 and moved to Buenos Aires. Against his father’s wishes, Carlos began studying music and later as if it was fate, became a conductor.
Carlos Kleiber lived his life away from society. Herbert von Karajan often joked that Carlos would only conduct “when his freezer was empty.” He never had an agent or signed written contracts. He preferred to negotiate himself and seal the deal with a handshake. He once told Leonard Bernstein that he wanted to grow old in a sun drenched garden, only drinking, eating, sleeping and making love. Later on in his life, he would only appear sporadically. He was often begged to come back to the podium. A famous story includes his compensation being a $100,000 Audi made to his exact specifications.
Kleiber decided that he never wanted to have a permanent position. He was the first choice to succeed Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic, and after they offered him the position he declined. He conducted all the venerated opera houses and orchestras of Europe with his specific repertoire. He was known to dislike recordings and was quoted as saying “every unproduced record is a good record.”
He only appeared in the United States a handful of times. He first concert was conducting Otello with the San Francisco Opera in 1977. In 1980 he conducted the Chicago Symphony and a few years later he conducted the Metropolitan Opera in the works of La Boheme, Otello, and Der Rosenkavalier. There is a interesting story when he made his debut at the Met. There was a tremendous amount of anticipation and excitement about the famed Kleiber coming to conduct. They scheduled extra rehearsals for this storied debut. Pavorotti was the tenor accompanied by the sublime Mirella Freni. He cancelled most of the rehearsals with the orchestra and just left the room and said see you at the concert. Kleiber was notorious for cancelling rehearsals with the anticipation of a fresh and extemporaneous concert. With Leonard Bernstein in the audience, the opera performance was amazing. The audience applause would go on and on. The legendary Maestro made his mark.
I recall several conversations I had with members of the Vienna Philharmonic about Carlos Kleiber. They spoke of him as a pure genius. One of the last concerts he did with them was Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. I remember one of their concertmasters Rainer Honeck saying to me that is was one of the best concerts of his life. He said that Kleiber thought in pictures, not words. His recording of Beethoven 5 and 7 with the Vienna Philharmonic is one of the best recordings I have ever heard. My friend and Vienna Phil violist Hans P. Ochsenhofer raved about the day they made this recording.
For more information about Carlos Kleiber click here.
For a complete discography of his recordings click here.
Here is a picture of the cover of this famous recording.
1 comment December 10th, 2007
