One of the most famous conductors of the Twentieth Century - Carlos Kleiber, son of Erich Kleiber - has always been compared with his father. But that fact did not obstruct the revelation of his talent. 
Carlos Kleiber is the greatest orchestra conductor through the end of the Twentieth Century. This evaluation comes not only from the critics, nor from his most faithful audience, nor from the music experts, who respect him. Also it comes not only from the record companies, who know how much the market appreciates him. This is a general evaluation. No one in the classical world would say it is not true. Carlos Kleiber is a living myth: anecdotes and stories by eyewitnesses are told about him. His performances — they cannot be forgotten although they are few — speak about him. Few also were those who actually witnessed Carlos conducting. His appearances were quite rare, as with all big artists who consciously or unconsciously manage to maintain their own legend during their lifetime, similar to Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli who experienced the same uproar and the same respect from the audience. 
How did Kleiber become a myth? What are the reasons for his stubborn refusal to reveal himself, and why did he not to turn any attention to the huge respect that he indeed deserved? We shall try to understand this as we look through his life and experience. But definitely we will have to forsake one kind of testimony: direct contact and its authenticity. In fact Kleiber never gave even a single interview. 
In connection with his historical performance of Othello by G. Verdi on December 7th, 1976 in the Milan La Scala, surrounded by telecameras and reporters from RAI, he confined himself to say: "Thanks to everyone," and turned away. During the following presentation of "La Boheme" from G. Puccini, a reporter enthusiastic about the music asked a famous lady from Milan, who had invited the Maestro to dinner, to allow him to dress up as a waiter, so that he might evesdrop on the conversation at the table (in friendly company Kleiber was a completely ordinary person, almost naive, very benevolent) He did not receive permission and the possibility was lost. Really, we are talking about anecdotes, but Kleiber is not only, or simply, a "person"; he is an object of "they say" and "it is remembered." This is the man, who more than any other in the world succeeds in transforming his conductor"s gesture in the most perfect, inspired and expressive musical performance. This is the musician who more than any other creates music while conducting, showing in perfect synthesis the genius and the majesty of Beethoven, Wagner or Puccini, filtered, transformed through his sensitivity. When and how did such an extraordinary talent develop? 
If we judge by the biography, it seems to have came too late. At the age of 20, Kleiber - as he later admitted to Leonard Bernstein - still was not able to read a full score. Or at least not in the sense this phrase means to a real orchestra conductor: i.e. he was not able to come to know it deeply, to turn it into an idea and an intellectual model, to hear the voices of the singers and the sound of the instruments, turn it into music in his head. The figure of his father was the reason for the late revelation of his talent, at about 30 years of age. In fact Carlos, born in 1930, is a son of the great Erich, one of the most significant German orchestra conductors in the Twentieth Century. He was born in Berlin, where his father held the position of General Musical Director of the State Opera (there he conducted the premiere of Wozzeck from Alban Berg in 1925). In 1935 his father, his mother Ruth and the children (Carlos has a sister - Veronica) had to start a series of wanderings due to the emergence of the Nazism: the worshipped Maestro opposed it and was forced to resign. In 1934 the family finally moved to Latin America and Carlos studied in an English college in Chile until 1948. The relationship with his father and with music was not quite smooth. The reason for this was that Carlos was immediately attracted to studying scores and to the enthusiasm of composing, but at the same time he was confused by his father, whom he respected very much. The father wanted to protect him and tried in every way to dissuade the boy from taking the same direction. In spite of that he shared in front of friends: "I am curious to read the music composed by Carlos, and unfortunately he has this inclination." 
The burden of being compared with his father and the fear of evaluation probably accompanied Carlos through out his whole career. There is a story, when in 1978 he received a letter after a performance of Carmen at the Vienna Opera, written by a spectator, who congratulated him for his vitality and his art at the age of 88! People remember how amused he was to be confused with his father, who had determined his childhood, as well as his early years as a conductor, until leaving him in 1956 at the age of 65. Was he pleased by this mistake? He did not say. Kleiber-son has a character full of contrasts, from deep depressions and great enthusiasm, loneliness and desolate sadness, to disarming naivety and simplicity that make him love the double-deckers in London or electronic games for children. But all this was fed by a huge knowledge, by the knowing of many languages, by his juvenile literature attempts and by an ability existing only in the world of music. The ability to explain the sound to the members of the orchestra, to look for the correct tone, to synchronize them with his sensitivity, with his interpretation intentions. 
Let us turn to the history: towards 1949, after he had returned to Europe, Carlos still did not know what to do with his life. He enrolled in the Polytechnic in Zurich, received permission to study music, but only for one year. In 1950 he returned in Buenos Aires. This was the moment of change! He managed to obtain permission to study music for one more year, and decided to be serious about that: to stop what had been a child"s game for him, namely, to imagine that he was on the platform and to pretend to conduct, imitating the conductor, without knowing who was playing. His talent was tremendous and his progress immediate. He had not become a good pianist - he would never be - but two years later he returned in Europe and was admitted as an assistant in the Gartnereplatztheatre in Munich. After two more years of hard work he was ready to step on the platform: his debut was in Potsdam with an operetta of Karl Millocker, titled Gasparone. His family name did not appear at the poster in order not to bring confusion; he was called Carl Keller. His father sent him a telegram: "Good luck, dear Keller". This is the acknowledgement of his son"s vocation, which from that moment on the great conductor supported. The Vienna Folksoper took him as an assistant conductor without salary and the conditions were clear: he would not conduct until he showed he was ready. After his father had died, Kleiber went in the Deutsche Oper in Dusseldorf, where in 1958 - after conducting without rehearsals Smetana"s Prodana Nevesta and Puccini"s La Boheme in Landstheatre in Salzburg - he was able to show the first evidence for his extraordinary talent. 
At this moment, his life and his career entered two separate phases: the one of the hard work and the one of the myth. The first is less famous; it is in a certain sense in contrast with the myth, with the idea and the evaluation of the general audience about him. The second phase is the one experienced most directly in Italy, the phase of the great interpretations, of the rare appearances, of the canceled contracts under the pressure of indecisiveness, filling every moment of his life. Kleiber never wanted to take decisions, the signing of a contract was a trauma for him, and his admittance in a theatre or an orchestra was a reason for suspicion, troubles and considerations. Kleiber imputed the reasons for an imperfect performance of the orchestra and an unsuccessful evening (or not as good as usual) first of all to himself, and accepted the misunderstanding with the orchestra as a personal drama. He was always an indecisive person, who knew what he wanted only when he was at the platform. But, as you can easily presume, there was no place for personal problems during the first period of his career. 
And Carlos Kleiber conducted everything: from opera to operetta, even ballets in which often the main dancer was his wife, the ballerina Stanislava Bresovar. He started with Dusseldorf and performed a repertoire from La Boheme to Madam Butterfly, from La Oraviata to I due Foscari, from The Jolly Widow to Hansel und Gretel, including many titles by Offenbach and stage works by Ravel (Bolero, L"heure espagnole) or Rihard Strauss (Daphne, Der Rosenkavalier). He changed one after another works and authors, as he would never start dealing again with the few masterpieces left in his repertoire and in the hearts of the listeners of Kleiber - the myth. The vast amount of his work should not make us think it might have been superficial. Alberto Erede, musical director of the Dusseldorf Opera, remembered that Kleiber had often helped his colleagues during rehearsals and loved to discuss the tempos, the strings, the orchestration. His whole experience and knowledge, which would later support his career, matured for seven years. 
In 1964 he moved to Zurich, where he stayed till 1966. His activity drastically reduced, but the popularity and the international respect started to prove his unique talent to conduct in a remarkable way. In Zurich Kleiber stepped on the platform 65 times in three years: he brought seven opera titles on stage (among them Falstaff and Don Carlos) as well as some ballets. When in 1966 he was invited to Stuttgart, he was already a celebrity and was able to dictate the conditions in the contracts. In fact, the approval of a new star on the platform occurred in Stuttgart. Despite that the next contract, which had already been marked by his disobedience in work, which in turned out to be a distinguishing feature of Kleiber-son, would be in one of the best European opera theatres as a guest-conductor: the Bavarian Opera (in 1968). 
But what characterized Kleiber at that moment? Biography gives place to the essaistic, the critical and, once again, to the anecdotal means. He had a huge talent, but very serious preparation is also needed for conducting music. In connection with a recording of the Fourth Symphony of Brahms in the late autumn of 1980, Kleiber went in the musical library of the city in August, in order to analyze in detail Brahms’s original manuscript. Besides the accuracy of total preparation of a performance, the irrevocable presence at all rehearsals from the very beginning, the wish to decide and discuss every detail with the producer, Kleiber analyzed in the smallest detail the musical score with each individual party among the instruments and all the materials allocated for the orchestra. For example, over the notes used by the string sections he marked his preference for the positions for producing the tones, so that all his desired interpretation effects could emerge : he changed the performance of a passage from dark into serene, from dramatic into calm. And in this way the elevation of the sound, intangibility and dematerialization of his interpretations come out! Of course, this is also a result of experienceon the part of virtuoso instrumentalists, but also of his many accurate directions.
Many conductors speak much to the orchestras. They explain or try to explain what they want to achieve. The musicians often get bored and just upset with all the ideas. Kleiber used two ways of communication with the people standing in front of him: words and notations. In the first case he managed to be really unique: he demanded elevated and transparent sound from the orchestras of La Scala, for example, before coming of the love duet in the first act of Othello, "like a snow veil, spread over the Christmas tree." 
For a performance of "La Boheme" in Covent Garden in 1974, he demand clear sound but with transparent lightness; he advised the performers to imagine that they look through pyjamas, the most interesting parts of the body with admiration. The notations, called "Kleibergrams," were another way of communication with the instrumentalists. The Maestro used to put them directly on the music stands. They would be worded something like this: "Clarinets basses - "Tristan und Isolde" 5-5-78 Prelude 1 action, 5th to 10 bars with the ending: please, do not enter without me, because I wait for a long time here. And maybe this attack should be lighter. Thank you very much, good luck, yours Carlos Kleiber". 

What do we understand from this note? Kleiber wanted the clarinets to wait for his gesture at the attack on the scene. But he also explains to them that the pause could be longer (here is the meaning of the rubato, of the improvisation of the performance). Even the dynamic is a subject to variation ("maybe this attack should be lighter..."). 
Written in many languages, the Kleibergrams have been sent to the members of the best European orchestras. And they have become a kind of cult testimony. The members of the orchestra of La Scala, who obviously had received them during the rehearsals of Strauss"s Der Rosenkavalier (the first opera, conducted in Milan in 1976), gathered them and put them on the platform at the last performance. At first Kleiber thought (due to his incessant insecurity) that this showed criticism of his mistakes, but later he understood that it was their way of showing gratitude, an invitation for him to come back. And that flattered him.

Staging

We left Kleiber at the top of his ascending phase: at the moment when the contracts with the big record companies (DGG, for example) became proportional to works conducted, to his appearances in front of an audience, i.e. more seldom. Even when we talk about concerts, Kleiber’s repertoire and his presence in the symphony seasons decreased severely. If his name had not been Kleiber and if he had not conducted all that through his years of maturing, we would have suspected him of having difficulty in understanding new scores. But it is more reasonable to presume that the determining features of his character (indecisiveness, fear of mistakes, laziness, the wish to live a normal life) together with his temper as an interpreter (the precision of study, the accuracy at rehearsals, the uniqueness of the performances) are at the root of the scarcity of his professional biography. But everything he has done more or less remains in musical history. 
Once he had left his position in Stuttgart in 1973 (succeeded by Chelibidacke), Carlos Kleiber appeared, as we have already said, in some few theatres of repute: The Vienna Opera, The Munich Opera, Bayreuth, La Scala, Covent Garden, and over the ocean - in Metropolitan. He conducted even in Japan with La Scala, made tours in Latin America with some big orchestras. If the symphony repertoire was restricted to fifteen titles, that of the opera was reduced to quite few preferences: Der Rosenkavalier and Elektra of Richard Strauss, Wozzeck of Berg, La Boheme and "Madam Butterfly of Puccini, Othello and La Traviata of Verdi, Tristan und Isolde of Wagner, Die Fledermausof Johann Strauss, Carmen of Bizet. But the operas Kleiber preferred meant something special to him, something close to his nature, to his heart. Is there any connection among these 10 titles? Nothing at first sight, or maybe the red thread of the feelings. If we read again the titles we shall see that in each one of these operas there are characters with very luscious love stories, with feelings, sufferings, life and death. We find also youth, attraction, and childhood. We find the theatee, the great theater. But most of all, we find the yearning for living: Carmen, La Boheme, Wozzeck, Tristan... Even Die Fledermaus is an irreplaceable work for Kleiber, because it continues the game of life, its joy and its insanity. 
Maybe most of all the mature Kleiber is the artist who wants to enroll himself in the big fresco of life, recreated on stage. The artist, who wants to place himself at the service of the authors, praising the great human feelings (his interpretations correspond correctly to every indication of the composer). At the same time he accepts these authors, these titles, these immortal pages with his own soul of the interpreter, with his heart, with the gesture of the conductor"s baton. Here are the reasons for the drawled rubato, for the "expecting" atmosphere (the snow over the Christmas tree...), the explained melodies, and the singers" voices, supported and even directed by his baton! That is why every musical moment he conducted sounds like interpretation and a sudden musical work. Music obsesses him completely: in the evening of the earthquake in Friuli in 1976 he kept on conducting in La Scala without feeling the tremor that shook the building and horrified the members of the orchestra! 
Wherever he conducted, Kleiber left such impressions and memories. Let us stop at two places: Bayreuth and La Scala. In Wagner"s temple Kleiber conducted only Tristan und Isolde for three consecutive years, 15 times, starting in 1974. Harold Rosental wrote in Opera magazine: "I do not think that it will be exaggeration to say that Carlos Kleiber is one of the greatest orchestra conductors of our time: his reading is one of the most enthusiastic, bright and impressive after the one of V. de Sabbata." In fact this is one of his greatest triumphs. Claudio Abbado invited him to conduct the same opera in La Scala in the season of the two hundredth anniversary, 1977-78. As we have seen, he made his debut in La Scala in 1976 with a great performance of Der Rosenkavalier (the leading female parts were played by Fassbander and Popp, produced by Otto Schenk). On December 7, 1976, he returned for the presentation of Othello (the leading parts were played by Domingo, Capucilli, Freni; it was produced by Zeffirelli). After that came Tristan und Isolde (1978), La Boheme in 1979 (produced also by Zeffirelli, with Cotrubas). Othello and La Boheme were presented at a tour in Japan, and he had plenty of La Scala performances until 1988. Especially remarkable was the interpretation of the Verdi"s masterpiece in 1987. We are talking about the presentation for the 100th anniversary of Otello - February 5th. Exactly one century after the historic premiere, Kleiber conducted from the platform Placido Domingo (who brilliantly performed "Esultate" aria in the first act), Mirela Freni and Renato Bruson in the role of Jago (the last was to be replaced by Piero Capucilli out of the second performance because of dissension with the conductor regarding the nature of the characters). What remains out of these interpretations beyond the visual aspect? Only the vortex of music and Dionisius’s exultation remain, as well as the calmness and passion of an Othello, in whom the jealousy is transferred and bums out all characters. Only the death of Mimi remains, in which entire halls have participated and for whom they have wept, and against which it seemed impossible to oppose the flightiness of the first two actions. The erotic madness of Tristan, the magnetic musical flow, remain. And - attention - the impressions from these memories are spontaneous: they are composed of effects, sounds, magic and performances, which after that disappeared with the falling of the curtain... 
When we talk about preparation, Kleiber worked with many producers, and almost all of them have suffered with him and for him. He was present from the first rehearsal of the orchestra, searching and restless until the indications of the libretto are observed, persistent in everything that could possibly prevent the musical result in any way. He worked with Walter Felzenstein in Stuttgart on Der Freischutz of Karl Maria von Weber, arguing every day in front of the astonished singers; at the end he will admit that he admired this producer. While in the Bavarian Opera he had good relationship with Gunter Rehner. Together they put up unforgettable performances: after Wozzeck, the widow of Alban Berg gave to the conductor the composer’s jacket and ring. He argued non-stop with August Everding and at one of the performances of "Tristan" in Bayreuth, the Maestro begged the producer to take into consideration instructions such as to put a wall from where Brangane would watch. Everything went very well with Otto Schenk in Munich and the understanding was perfect at Der Rosenkavalier and Die Fledermaus. The same magic understanding generated with Franco Zeffirelli for the performance of Othello in La Scala in 1976. He had a kindly feeling towards the leading performer Placido Domingo: the conductor had spent weeks worrying before meeting him because of their fame! Domingo, Kleiber and Zeffirelli met again for Carmen in Vienna, in 1978. Placido Domingo respected Kleiber very much. Many people know the passion of the tenor for conducting (which sometimes he satisfies going up on the platform). He said that he wanted to possess the "liveliness of Levine, the gesture of Abbado, the capacity of Metha and ... everything of Kleiber!" 
Of course the famous tenor is not the only singer, who admits that due to Kleiber everything became easier, magic. Lucia Popp, for example, remembered his phenomenal attention to the rhythm, but also the ability to catch the decadent dimension in the works of Richard Strauss. B. Fassbander admires the qualities of his acting ability to sing every note of every character, (something he showed in public with the role of Othello at a general rehearsal in Japan. 
The other dimension of a conductor"s universe is presented through the symphony concerts. Whatever is said about the operas much more refers to symphony music. Few are the conductors with such limited repertoire. Few are the conductors, so rarely appearing on the platform as Kleiber: his appearances run to about 70 from 1978 till 1999, two of which were at the world level (the New Year Concerts in 1989 and 1992). 
Of course, Kleiber could choose the orchestras that he conducted: the Orchestra of the Bavarian State Radio and the Bavarian Staatsoper, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chicago Symphonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw: in Amsterdam, the Milan La Scala. As we have seen, he has never been a permanent or musical director of these orchestras. If he had become one, what a repertoire would he have done? Would he have made one and the same concert? So, therefore, as a mark of maximum freedom, his choice is to conduct only what he loves, what he knows, and he does it it whenever he wants (i.e. almost never, as it happened in the year 2000 with the announced tour completely cancelled). Disks help us to be delighted with his preferences. Schubert: we listen to the dramatic attack and the expectation in the Third Symphony; we listen to the Unfinished: dramatic, almost angry, that goes deep in our hearts. After that the Seventh Symphony of Beethoven: with long introduction, slowing down as much as possible before it starts, quite lightly, the flute"s theme, which after that gains strength, becomes more and more irresistible, until exploding in the enthusiasm of the whole orchestra, in the exultation of what really is the joy of Beethoven. We still listen to his Strauss" waltz: who else could have praised Vienna and the high life with such elevation? Karajan, Bernstein, Soiti and many other great conductors hold an honorable place in the history of interpretation, of which no one could deprive them. Yet, they also have been a target of critics. Kleiber is the only one, who - maybe because of his limited repertoire - looks perfect! 
Could we listen to and admire such perfection now? It is impossible to confide in a person who refused a contract in London, because he had to teach his son Marko to swim? It is easier to remember the last appearances: in Ravenna in 1997, leading the Bavarian Statsorchestra ("Coriolan" of Beethoven, The Fourth of Brahms and Symphony No. 33 of Mozart). And most of all in Caliari where in 1999 he conducted the Fourth and Seventh symphonies of Beethoven with the Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio. It is useless to remember the enthusiastic chorus of the critics. I will quote one of them - Alfredo Gasponi - in "II Messaggero" from February 25th: "There is no one like him! His baton causes thrills, but also joy, and a desire to dance, to run." 
We have quoted a pianist, who remembers Kleiber in a certain way: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. We can ask ourselves: what would have been if they had made a joint sound-record work? Impossible - this is the answer. Because indeed Kleiber and Michelangeli did play together: The Imperial of Beethoven in 1973 in Hamburg. And they tried to record it, making efforts for long hours. A problem, though a small one, stopped them: they could not find the exact sound of the performance. This was the end, neither of them being right. This time, music faced off two real and rare geniuses... 

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