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Carlos Kleiber | |
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| Born | Karl Ludwig Bonifacius Kleiber 3 July 1930 (1930-07-03) |
| Died | 13 July 2004(2004-07-13) (aged 74) |
| Occupation | Conductor |
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Carlos Kleiber (3 July 1930 – 13 July 2004) was a German-born Austrianconductor, who is widely regarded as among the greatest conductors of all time.[1][2] The son of the conductorErich Kleiber, he was particularly known for the Romantic repertoire.John Rockwell writes: "A fabled perfectionist, he demanded long hours of rehearsal as his reputation grew and allowed him to obtain such concessions. But he made all that work pay off in performances that blended exactitude with impassioned spontaneity."[3]
Kleiber was born asKarl Ludwig Bonifacius Kleiber inBerlin in 1930, the son of the eminent Austrian conductorErich Kleiber and American Ruth Goodrich (née Baumgardner, 1900 – 1967),[4] fromWaterloo, Iowa.[5][6] In 1935, the Kleiber family emigrated toBuenos Aires[3] and Karl was renamed Carlos. As a youth, he had an English governess and grew up in English boarding schools. He also composed, sang, and playedpiano andtimpani. While his father noticed his son's musical talents, he nevertheless dissuaded Carlos from pursuing a musical career: "What a pity the boy is musically talented", wrote Erich to a friend.[7]
Carlos first studiedchemistry atETH Zurich but soon decided to dedicate himself to music.[8] He wasrépétiteur at theGärtnerplatz Theatre inMunich in 1952 and made his conducting debut with theoperettaGasparone atPotsdam theatre in 1954. From 1958 to 1964 he wasKapellmeister at theDeutsche Oper am Rhein inDüsseldorf andDuisburg, and then at the Opera in Zurich from 1964 to 1966. Between 1966 and 1973 he was firstKapellmeister inStuttgart, his last permanent post. During the following years, he often conducted at theBavarian State Opera in Munich.
During his time at Düsseldorf his operatic repertoire includedGiuseppe Verdi'sLa traviata,Rigoletto,I due Foscari andOtello,Giacomo Puccini'sLa bohème andMadama Butterfly,Richard Strauss'Daphne andDer Rosenkavalier,Jacques Offenbach'sLes Contes d'Hoffmann plusseveral of his operettas,Franz Lehár'sThe Merry Widow,Engelbert Humperdinck'sHansel and Gretel,Igor Stravinsky'sOedipus Rex andRuggero Leoncavallo'sEdipo re.[9] At Zurich he conducted Verdi'sFalstaff andBedřich Smetana'sThe Bartered Bride for the first time.[9]
During his freelance career, Kleiber restricted his conducting appearances to select occasions. He made his British debut in 1966 with a performance at theEdinburgh Festival ofAlban Berg'sWozzeck, a work whose premiere his father had conducted in 1925. Kleiber's repertoire at theRoyal Opera House includedDer Rosenkavalier,Elektra,La bohème andOtello.[10] He made hisBayreuth debut in 1974 conductingRichard Wagner'sTristan und Isolde.
His American debut came in 1978 with theChicago Symphony Orchestra,[3] where he again conducted in 1983, his only US orchestra appearances.[11][12] HisMetropolitan Opera debut was in 1988, conductingLa bohème withLuciano Pavarotti andMirella Freni.[13] In 1989, followingHerbert von Karajan's resignation from theBerlin Philharmonic, Kleiber was offered, but declined, the opportunity to succeed him as music director.[14] He returned to the Met in 1989 to conductLa traviata, and in 1990 forOtello[15] andDer Rosenkavalier.[16]
Kleiber kept out of the public eye and apparently gave one interview in his lifetime,[17][18][19] contrary to reports that he never gave any.[12][20][21] After he resigned from the Bavarian State Opera, his appearances became less frequent and he made only a few recordings.
Most of these studio recordings are highly regarded; they includeLudwig van Beethoven'sfifth andseventhsymphonies with theVienna Philharmonic,Johannes Brahms'sSymphony No. 4 andFranz Schubert'sthird andeighth ("Unfinished") symphonies, also with the Vienna Philharmonic, recordings ofDvořák'sConcerto for piano and orchestra withSviatoslav Richter,Carl Maria von Weber'sDer Freischütz,Johann Strauss'Die Fledermaus andGiuseppe Verdi'sLa traviata. His last studio recording wasRichard Wagner'sTristan und Isolde with theStaatskapelle Dresden. Recording sessions began in 1980. Kleiber left before they were completed,[22] but since a musically complete performance had been set down,Deutsche Grammophon released it, much to Kleiber's anger.[citation needed]
Kleiber'ssmall studio discography has been increased by a number of releases of live recordings, often sourced from broadcast relays. These have included his twoVienna New Year's Concerts, performances of Beethoven's Fourth and Seventh Symphonies with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Sixth with the Bavarian State Orchestra. The Sixth is especially notable as the only occasion on which Kleiber conducted the work; in this instance the source came not from a radio broadcast but a C-90compact cassette recorded for his son.[23]
Kleiber retired from concert life in the early 1990s, occasionally reappearing for private orbenefit concerts. For one such event in Ingolstadt, part of his payment consisted of a newAudi made to his specifications. His performances were painstakingly rehearsed, but often seemed spontaneous and inspired. In the opinion of many of his colleagues and audiences, he was an eccentric genius whom some placed among the greatest conductors of all time despite the paucity of his appearances.[7][24][25][26][27]
He was buried in the Slovenian village ofKonjšica nearLitija, where he died in 2004, next to his wifeStanislava Brezovar, aballet dancer, who had died seven months earlier.[28] They had two children, a son Marko and a daughter Lillian.
Kleiber's unique conducting style is preserved on video in a number of performances: Beethoven'sSymphony No. 4 andSymphony No. 7 from theConcertgebouw in Amsterdam,[29] Johann Strauss'sDie Fledermaus from Munich,Richard Strauss'sDer Rosenkavalier from both Munich and Vienna,Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's36th symphony and Brahms'ssecond symphony from theMusikverein in Vienna; Beethoven'sCoriolan Overture, Mozart's33rd and Brahms' fourth symphonies fromMunich and Bizet's Carmen again from Vienna. He conducted theNew Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in 1989 and 1992, which are both preserved on video.
In 2008Rai Radio 3 (Italian National Radio channel 3), inside its evening programRadio3 Suite, broadcast a 10-episode program dedicated to Kleiber's legacy:Il Sorriso della Musica: un Ritratto di Carlos Kleiber ("The Smile of Music: A Portrait of Carlos Kleiber"), organized and hosted by Andrea Ottonello, with participation byClaudio Abbado,Mirella Freni,Maurizio Pollini, and above all Carlos Kleiber's sister, Veronica. In his interview, Abbado termed Kleiber "one of the greatest, if not the greatest, conductors of the 20th century" ("Carlos è stato uno dei più grandi, se non il più grande, direttore del Novecento").[30]
On 26 September 2009, BBC Radio 3 transmitted a documentary,Who Was Carlos Kleiber?. Produced by Paul Frankl and presented by Ivan Hewett with research by Ruth Thomson, this feature was based on interviews with four who knew Kleiber well: tenor and conductorPlácido Domingo, music administrator and intendant Sir Peter Jonas, music journalist and critic Christine Lemke-Matvey and conductor–pianist Charles Barber.[31]
His gifts—musical and dramatic insights, analytical abilities, technique, methods of explaining himself—make him the greatest conductor of our day. When I work with him, I feel that he knows why the composer wrote every note, treated every phrase, conceived of every bit of orchestral color in a particular way...If he were to become the permanent conductor of a major orchestra, he could turn it into the greatest ensemble in history.[32]
Beginning in July 2014, upon the tenth anniversary of his death, a syndicate of public broadcasters in Canada, Great Britain and the United States aired a two-hour documentary,Carlos Kleiber: A Conductor Unlike Any Other, about Kleiber as remembered by his colleagues. Producer Jon Tolansky, who himself played for Kleiber at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, interviewed singersIleana Cotrubaș,Thomas Hampson, DameFelicity Lott, the late DameMargaret Price andJonathan Summers, members of the Chicago Symphony, Royal Opera House, London Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, conductor and Kleiber friend Charles Barber, administrators Sir Peter Jonas and Sir John Tooley, and recording executive Costa Pilavachi. This audio essay incorporated numerous excerpts from Kleiber's most important recordings, including Beethoven's fifth and seventh symphonies, Verdi'sLa traviata, Richard Strauss'Der Rosenkavalier, and Weber'sDer Freischütz.[33]
On 21 June 2010, the city of Ljubljana celebrated Carlos Kleiber's 80th birthday with a concert by theVienna Philharmonic directed by Kleiber's friendRiccardo Muti.BBC Music Magazine announced on 17 March 2011 that Kleiber had been selected as "the greatest conductor of all time." Some 100 current conductors, includingSir Colin Davis,Gustavo Dudamel,Valery Gergiev andMariss Jansons, participated in the BBC poll. Kleiber, who conducted just 96 concerts and around 400 operatic performances in his 74 years, was voted ahead ofLeonard Bernstein andClaudio Abbado, who took second and third places respectively.
Susanna Mälkki, music director, ensemble intercontemporain, and one of the conductors polled, commented: "Carlos Kleiber brought an incredible energy to music... Yes, he did have about five times as much time to rehearse than conductors do today, but he deserved it because his vision was remarkable, he knew what he wanted, and his attention to detail was truly inspiring."
Jeremy Pound, Deputy Editor of BBC Music Magazine, added: "Asking 100 of today's conducting greats to name their idols and inspirations was a fascinating experience. Not least when so many named Carlos Kleiber, who in the course of his whole lifetime conducted fewer concerts than most of them direct in just a couple of years. Kleiber's incredible attention to detail, sheer enthusiasm for music, and astonishingly accomplished level of performance could never be doubted – perhaps 'less is more' is the real path to true greatness?"
According to Charles Barber, biographer, friend and pen-pal of Kleiber, another factor contributed to his legendary and unusual career. "Uniquely, Carlos Kleiber combined the rigors of German analysis, form and discipline with the expressive vitality of Latin dance, pulse and joy. For nearly twenty years at the formative outset, a conductor baptized Karl gradually became Carlos. He never turned his back on that fascinating cultural biochemistry. It would shape everything he did."[5]
Kleiber was voted into theGramophone Hall of Fame in 2012.Clemens Hellsberg (Gramophone, May 2012) said:
What was it that propelled Carlos Kleiber to near mystical heights? It was the unforgettable experience of surpassing one's own boundaries, yet also the utter helplessness when he stormed off in the last minutes of a final rehearsal. This was not pretension but rather the expression of deepest despair, even though the orchestra had performed at the highest level – or perhaps for that very reason. Extreme contradictions characterised his personality: one constantly feared catastrophe, yet he was always available to musicians for private conversations. He had a vast repertoire, yet restricted himself to a very few works. His outbursts of rage could be directed at anyone, yet his interaction with children was characterised by a precious and fragile tenderness. In art there are no upward limits. Yet each generation needs at least one artist who exemplifies this. Kleiber reached to the stars for us; even when he broke down in his efforts, he still proved that they exist.
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