Carlos Kleiber
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Biography
Voted by readers of BBC Music Magazine as the greatest conductor of the 20th century, German-born Carlos Kleiber was an exciting and eccentric - though often reclusive - perfectionist who worked with many of the world's greatest orchestras, but was also known as an "enfant terrible". He refused to give interviews, was very selective about the work he took on and once demanded an Audi car as his fee for a performance; one of many colourful stories that helped create a web of mystery about the man behind the genius.
The son of celebrated Austrian conductor Erich Kleiber, whose family fled to Buenos Aires to escape the Nazis, he was effectively raised by an English governess and educated at English boarding schools. Despite his own brilliant career as a conductor, his father tried to dissuade him from such a life and in 1949 he was sent to study chemistry in Zurich. Music, however, was instilled in him and composing as well as singing, playing piano and timpani from a young age, he was back in Argentina the following year pursuing his musical training.
Returning to Germany in 1951, he went on to make his conducting debut with the operetta 'Gasparone' at Potsdam in 1954 using the pseudonym Karl Keller. His reputation blossomed through the 1950s and '60s through his work with the Vienna Volksoper, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Zurich Opera and the Stuttgart Opera and he spent much of the '70s conducting the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, where his most notable performances included Strauss's 'Der Rosenkavalier', an Otto Schenk production enshrined in legend. The classical music world was subsequently electrified by performances in London, Milan and New York where his exciting display conducting 'La Boheme' at the Metropolitan Theatre caused something of a sensation. He was particularly revered in Munich and Vienna, though a negative review of an appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra upset him so much he refused to play in London ever again.
His recording career was limited due in main to his infamous temper and falling out with Deutsche Grammophon, but his most celebrated recordings include 'Tristan und Isolde', 'Die Fledermaus' and 'La Traviata' (featuring Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubas). Married to a ballet dancer he spent his last years living in a small village in Slovenia, having retired from concert performances in the early '90s, and died in 2004 at the age of 74.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Verdi: La traviata / Act I - Libiamo ne'lieti calici featuring Ileana Cotrubas
- Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 - I. Allegro non troppo featuring Carlos Kleiber
- Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 - II. Andante moderato featuring Carlos Kleiber
- Schubert: Symphony No. 3 in D Major, D.200 - II. Allegretto by Wiener Philharmoniker
- Weber: Der Freischütz, J. 277 / Act II - "Wie nahte mir der Schlummer" - "Leise, leise, fromme Weise!" featuring Carlos Kleiber
- Verdi: La traviata / Act I - "Ebben? che diavol fate?" featuring Plácido Domingo
- Verdi: La traviata / Act I - "Si ridesta in ciel l'aurora" featuring Carlos Kleiber
- Weber: Der Freischütz, J. 277 / Act III - "Einst träumte meiner sel'gen Base" - "Trübe Augen, Liebchen, taugen" featuring Edith Mathis
- Verdi: La traviata / Act I - "E strano! ... Ah, fors'è lui" featuring Ileana Cotrubas
- Weber: Der Freischütz, J. 277, Act III: Was gleicht wohl auf Erden dem Jägervergnügen? featuring Carlos Kleiber
- Verdi: La traviata / Act I - "Follie! Delirio vano è questo!... Sempre libera" featuring Plácido Domingo
- Verdi: La traviata, Act II: Lunge da lei - De' miei bollenti spiriti featuring Carlos Kleiber
- Weber: Der Freischütz, J. 277 / Act II - "Kommt ein schlanker Bursch gegangen" featuring Edith Mathis
- Verdi: La traviata, Act II: Annina, donde vieni? - O mio rimorso! featuring Carlos Kleiber
- Verdi: La traviata, Act II: Alfredo? - Per Parigi or or partiva featuring Ileana Cotrubas
- Verdi: La traviata, Act II: Pura siccome un angelo featuring Ileana Cotrubas
- J. Strauss II: Die Fledermaus / Act II: Unter Donner und Blitz, Polka, Op. 324 by Bayerisches Staatsorchester
- Weber: Der Freischütz, J. 277 / Act II - "Schelm! Halt fest!" featuring Edith Mathis
- Verdi: La traviata / Act I - "Dell'invito trascorsa è già l'ora" featuring Plácido Domingo
- Verdi: La traviata / Act I - "Che è ciò?" featuring Plácido Domingo
- Verdi: La traviata / Act I - "Un dì felice, eterea" featuring Ileana Cotrubas
- Verdi: La traviata, Act II: Né rispondi d'un padre â No, non udrai rimproveri featuring Plácido Domingo
- Verdi: La traviata, Act II: Avrem lieta di maschere la notte featuring Carlos Kleiber
- Verdi: La traviata, Act II: Noi siamo zingarelle featuring Carlos Kleiber
