Friday 18 May 9:00pm
Marc Minkowski conducts Alcina by Handel in Vienna
An elusive conductor
CARLOS KLEIBER
Carlos Kleiber was a legend in every sense of the word - he gave very few concerts (less than one hundred in his lifetime) and studiously avoided the press. Each of his appearances was a special event, and not just for its rarity. The less was known about him, to more he was sought after. The most fascinating mystery however remains his mastery of his art: where did the unique ductility, the energy, the feline quality of his conducting style come from? He certainly learned a lot from his father, the great Erich Kleiber (who tried to persuade him not to become a musician!), but Carlos is a special case. He left very few recordings, and even fewer filmed performances, but each one is a revelation. This month on Mezzo, we can hear and see him on the symphonic podium and in the opera pit: no one has conducted Johann Strauss's "Die Fledermaus" with more elegance and zest. No one has galvanized the Concertgebouw orchestra the way he did in Beethoven's Symphonies No. 4 and 7. No one has made the Vienna Philharmonic sound more voluptuous in Brahms's Second Symphony. Even if his musical genius needs no explanation, it is a rare treat to watch him rehearse with his musicians for Die Fledermaus and Der Freischütz, a unique insight into his art.
Carlos Kleiber this month on Mezzo
Monday 30 April, 8:30pm : Symphony No. 4 by Brahms (Bayerisches Staatsorchester), Symphony No. 4 by Beethoven (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra)
Monday 7 May, 8:30pm : Symphony No. 2 by Brahms (Wiener Philharmoniker), Symphony No. 7 by Beethoven (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), Overture to "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss (rehearsal and concert, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart)
Monday 13 May, 8:30pm : Die Fledermaus, by Johann Strauss (Bayerisches Staatsoper, Munich).
Monday 20 May, 8:30pm : Symphony No. 33 (Bayerisches Staatsorchester) and 36 by Mozart (Wiener Philharmoniker), Coriolan Overture by Beethoven (Bayerisches Staatsorchester), Overture to Der Freischütz by Weber (rehearsal and concert, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart)
1930 Born in Berlin
1940 His family emigrates to Argentina
1954 Conducting début at the Postdam Theatre
1954 Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf
1964 Kapellmeister at the Zürich Opera
1966 Kapellmeister in Stuttgart
1966 Conducts Berg's "Wozzeck" at the Edinburgh Festival
1974 Conducts Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" at the Bayreuth Festival
1977 Conducts Verdi's "Otello" at La Scala in Milan
1988 Conducts "La Bohème" at the New York Metropolitan Opera
1989 Conducts the New Year Concert at the Musikverein in Vienna
1992 Conducts the New Year Concert in Vienna for the second time
2004 Dies in Konjšica (Slovenia)
Carlos Kleiber this month on Mezzo