Memorial Page for Carlos Kleiber (née Karl Ludwig Bonifacius Kleiber)

Carlos Kleiber (born Karl Ludwig Bonifatius Kleiber on 3 July 1930 in Berlin; died 13 July 2004 in Slovenia) was a German-Austrian conductor. He appeared rarely, left only a small number of official recordings and is nevertheless regarded as one of the defining conducting figures of the twentieth century.

Family and first steps

Kleiber was the son of conductor Erich Kleiber and the American Ruth Goodrich. After Erich Kleiber left Germany in protest against the Nazi regime, the family led an unsettled life and eventually settled in South America. Carlos Kleiber first studied law and chemistry in Zurich, then turned to music in Buenos Aires. His path to the podium began away from major publicity, in smaller theatres and under the pseudonym Karl Keller.

Opera houses and repertoire

In 1955 Kleiber conducted Millöcker's operetta Gasparone in Potsdam. He then worked as a répétiteur and conductor, including in Düsseldorf, Zurich and Stuttgart. His repertoire remained narrower than that of many colleagues, but this concentration became one mark of his art. He chose works in which he could shape every phrase, rhythmic movement and relation between stage and orchestra in detail.

Munich, Vienna, Bayreuth

Kleiber was especially closely connected with the Bavarian State Opera. He made his debut there on 13 January 1968 with Der Rosenkavalier and conducted many performances and concerts over the following two decades. Vienna, Bayreuth, Covent Garden, La Scala and later the Metropolitan Opera also shaped his international reputation. Wagner, Strauss, Verdi, Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert remained among the composers most strongly associated with his name.

Working style

Kleiber was known for extreme precision. Musicians described rehearsals in which technical exactness, musical imagination and physical gesture came together. At the same time he was considered unpredictable: he gave almost no interviews, cancelled appearances, accepted only selected engagements and kept away from the routine of the international music business. This reserve became a fixed part of his public image.

Recordings and influence

His discography is small but influential. His recordings of Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, Brahms's Fourth, Schubert symphonies and opera recordings such as Der Freischütz, La traviata, Die Fledermaus and Tristan und Isolde became reference points for many listeners and musicians. In 1989 he conducted the Vienna New Year's Concert, and again in 1992; both appearances brought his art to a wide television audience.

Farewell

Carlos Kleiber died in Slovenia on 13 July 2004, a few months after the death of his wife Stanka. He was 74 years old. His memory rests less on a major office or a long list of recordings than on the intensity of individual performances that set standards for conducting for many people.