Carlos Kleiber conducts

Posted by: graham55 on 10 February 2005

I've just spent the last four hours watching a couple of DVDs of Carlos Kleiber, one of my two great musical heroes of the late Twentieth Century. (The other was Jeff Buckley, and I'm pleased to say that I saw both in concert.)

Now I stand behind no-one in my admiration for Kleiber, but I'm not an orchestral musician and I can't see what he's doing to get THAT performance. Sure, I can see that his baton is flying about as I've never seen before (he was famous, apparently, for his "fast" stick technique) and I know that he was infamous for wanting up to four times as many rehearsals as any other conductor. And he conducted desperately few performances of anything.

But what is he doing out there? Most of the time the orchestra members are looking at their scores and, occasionally, Kleiber closes his eyes, drops his right baton hand and puts his left hand in his pocket. And yet the music sounds sublime!

So, is it all in the rehearsal? Or did he just conduct great orchestras who could play with their eyes closed? But, if that were the case, any other could do the same, and for those who have ears that's evidently not the case! Otherwise, I'd be entirely happy to stand before the Wiener Philharmoniker and wave a baton about.

So can anyone enlighten me?

G

Posted on: 11 February 2005 by Basil

I think you've answered your own question

quote:
and I know that he was infamous for wanting up to four times as many rehearsals as any other conductor.

That was the general consensus among the more knowledgeable of our regular customers.

There is a mystique about the truly great conductors that is impossible to define.

Listen to the opening of the fifth symphony, turn it up LOUD, and pay close attention to the strings.

Posted on: 11 February 2005 by Todd A

First of all: which DVDs?

Second, my guess is that most of the unique traits of an interpretation for any conductor are attributable to rehearsal. But then there's always Knappertsbusch out there to throw off that idea.

Posted on: 11 February 2005 by graham55

Todd

Not sure why it counts, but there were 2 Dvds. First featured the Wiener Philharmoniker playing Hozart 36 ("Linz"), then Brahms Symphony No 2. The next was one of his last concerts: the Bayerisches Staats0rchester with Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, then Mozart's 33rd Symphony and, finally, Brahms' Fourth Symphony. Quite remarkable!
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G

Posted on: 11 February 2005 by Todd A

quote:
Originally posted by graham55:Not sure why it counts, but there were 2 Dvds.

It's always good to know which recordings are being praised or slammed. I have the Brahms 2 / Mozart Linz and agree that it is superb.