In my opinion, Carlos Kleiber was one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. While he did not have a huge repertoire, he conducted orchestral works and Operas all over the world.
Kleiber appeared often, if at irregular intervals, at the leading European opera houses in Italy, Germany, Austria and England and was a guest conductor of Europe’s premier orchestras. Despite having studied in New York as a teenager, he conducted in the United States only four times, leading two engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and two with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
The son of a renowned conductor, Erich Kleiber, the younger Mr. Kleiber embarked on a musical career against his father’s wishes. He first studied chemistry before turning belatedly if inevitably to conducting, making his European debut in 1954 under an assumed name to avoid bringing shame to his father.
Mr. Kleiber, a tall, slender man of aristocratic bearing, knew the interior architecture of his musical scores intimately, as if he were stripping away years of encrusted tradition to touch the source of the composer’s inspiration.
He was committed to proper rhythm and to dynamics as prescribed by the composer; and he insisted on having only the very best singers at operatic performances.
Listen now and watch Carlos Kleiber’s elegant conducting style as he leads a performence of the Symphony #4 by Johannes Brahms:
