Conductor Carlos Kleiber

[Tetrachord]

I was listening to a BBC radio program from 2009 about this enigmatic conductor! It was on U-Tube. Next year I'd like to present a 2 hour program for our music group on this conductor and I'm wondering if anybody knows of a particularly good recording of his which you'd recommend. I already have the Brahms 4 with the Vienna Philharmonic. And, from what I can see, there's only one biography from Charles Barber who was a correspondent of Kleiber's for some years. Apparently Kleiber had a wonderful sense of humour.

This dirigent fascinates me!! He's smokin' hot in this rehearsal!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVk2Glu-7kM

[Beef Oven!]

People will no doubt mention his recording of Beethoven 5 & 7.

A favourite of mine down the years is his recording of Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz with the Staatskapelle et al, on Deutsche Gramophone.

[Richard Barrett]

A favourite of mine down the years

That was the one that sprang to my mind too. That and his Tristan.

[cloughie]

That was the one that sprang to my mind too. That and his Tristan.

Schubert Sym 3 on DG, Beethoven Sym 6 on Orfeo and if you wanted to illustrate him as a Concerto conductor there is the EMI Dvorak PC with Sviatoslav Richer. Also a potentially interesting CD on Hanssler of Kleiber Sr (NBCSO, 1947) and Kleiber Jr (StuttRSO, 1972) each conducting Borodin Sym 2 - fascinating, but I've never heard them or for that matter either of them conducting Borodin. Could be good if you wish to include comparison or parental influence.

[Conchis]

I'll add another obvious one: his recording of Tristan (which he virtually disowned and didn't want released) is, imo, the best there is in stereo.

I'd also add his two DVDs of Rosenkavalie (one with Gwynetth Jones, the other with Felicity Lott).

With Kleiber, your dealing with a minuscule officially released output but it's all five star stuff, with the possible exception of his recording of Die Fledermaus, which is controversial.

When Kleiber died, he was the subject of one of the Norman Lebrecht's more pointedly absurd 'polemical' pieces, which you might be interested in reading. I disagree with every word of it, needless to add.

http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/040730-NL-kleiber.html

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Less obvious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pEwhe-3GXU

[Richard Barrett]

I'll add another obvious one: his recording of Tristan (which he virtually disowned and didn't want released)

... which I had already added... but I wonder what he thought was so wrong with it? For me it's close to the ideal of what Wagner can and ought to sound like.

[Conchis]

... which I had already added... but I wonder what he thought was so wrong with it? For me it's close to the ideal of what Wagner can and ought to sound like.

Apoligies - didn't read your post properly.

The sessions for the Kleiber Tristan were protracted and contentious - Kleiber was, apparently, dissatisfied with the orchestra, the singers and (most of all, perhaps) himself. He wanted to abandon the recording at one point and had to be reminded of his contractual obligations in order to force him back into the studio. Probably another case of a conductor trying (and failing, by his own esimation) to achieve what he heard in his mind.

[Richard Barrett]

he was the subject of one of the Norman Lebrecht's more pointedly absurd 'polemical' pieces, which you might be interested in reading. I disagree with every word of it, needless to add.

If Shakespeare had been writing in our time, he might have written "Norman Lebrecht" instead of "an idiot" in certain well-known lines of Macbeth.

[Tetrachord]

Schubert Sym 3 on DG, Beethoven Sym 6 on Orfeo and if you wanted to illustrate him as a Concerto conductor there is the EMI Dvorak PC with Sviatoslav Richer. Also a potentially interesting CD on Hanssler of Kleiber Sr (NBCSO, 1947) and Kleiber Jr (StuttRSO, 1972) each conducting Borodin Sym 2 - fascinating, but I've never heard them or for that matter either of them conducting Borodin. Could be good if you wish to include comparison or parental influence.

Thanks so much (and to the other contributors too) - this sounds like an excellent idea. I've ordered a DVD of Kleiber conducting the Stuttgart orchestra. From what I've seen on U-Tube it looks excellent; he was such an animated individual and such a pleasure to watch in action. Elegant as well as musical and gifted.

[Tetrachord]

I'll add another obvious one: his recording of Tristan (which he virtually disowned and didn't want released) is, imo, the best there is in stereo.

I'd also add his two DVDs of Rosenkavalie (one with Gwynetth Jones, the other with Felicity Lott).

With Kleiber, your dealing with a minuscule officially released output but it's all five star stuff, with the possible exception of his recording of Die Fledermaus, which is controversial.

When Kleiber died, he was the subject of one of the Norman Lebrecht's more pointedly absurd 'polemical' pieces, which you might be interested in reading. I disagree with every word of it, needless to add.

http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrech...L-kleiber.html

I find myself so often in disagreement with the choleric Lebrecht. Time has proven him wrong. The recorded legacy is, of course, rather sparse but surely it's quality not quantity.

[Tetrachord]

... which I had already added... but I wonder what he thought was so wrong with it? For me it's close to the ideal of what Wagner can and ought to sound like.

I've not heard the work but have read that it was much praised.

[Nick Armstrong]

I'm wondering if anybody knows of a particularly good recording of his which you'd recommend.

If you want to show your group in about a minute the magic of this musician, play them from around 3:00 to 4:00 in this video of Beethoven 4 with the Concertgebouw. I've posted it in the past elsewhere, as the way he leads the transition from the slow introduction to the main part of the movement has always been a touchstone moment for me!

[BBMmk2]

LvB's 5th?

[richardfinegold]

I have a DVD, somewhere, with him leading the Brahms 4th, but also a Mozart Symphony, I think #34, which I have not seen mentioned in this thread