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THE GREAT MAESTRO (based on Mark Audus' story)
BERLIN 1929 A famous photograph taken at the 1929 Berlin Festival shows five great conductors at a reception to mark the visit of Toscanini and the La Scala Company. Toscanini himself is unmistakable, as are Bruno Walter and the towering Otto Klemperer and Wilhelm Furtwangler. But the figure at the center, the youngest of the five, with a distinctively bald cranium and wide-set eyes, will be less familiar to many present day music lovers. He is Erich Kleiber, at that time head of the Berlin State Opera and, for those in the know, every bit the equal of his four colleagues. Orphaned at the early age, Kleiber had a disrupted upbringing between the twin capitals of Vienna (where he saw both Mahler and Strauss conducting) and Prague, but this first post was in Darmstadt. Here Kleiber learned his craft, initially in operetta, at which he excelled and for which he never lost his touch or affection. Above all, he developed as a man of the theatre, and it was the opera house that was his natural metier. The young Kleiber listened in amazement at the sound Arthur Nikisch produced from the Court orchestra in Tristan. Later he stepped in to conduct a final rehearsal of Der Rosenkavalier at sight, a feat that gave an explosive start to his career. After s string of appointments in Darmstadt, a last-minute engagement to conduct Fidelio at the Berlin Staatsoper in 1923 secured for him one of the most prestigious posts in the operatic world: Generalmusik-director at the Berlin Staatsoper. For the next 11 years he led it through arguably the most brilliant period in its history, heading great ensembles, and conducted the world premiere of Berg's Wozzeck. During the 1920s and 30s he made a host of recordings with the Berlin Staatskapelle, Berlin, Vienna and Czech Philharmonics. These were mostly of shorter works - overtures and Viennese dance music - but also included sym- phonies by Beethoven and Dvorak and early recordings of Stravinski - on Vox, Victor, Telefunken and Polydor labels. Uncompromising Initially seen as a lightweight appointment, Kleiber soon ruffled feathers in Berlin. Quite apart from daring to introduce the waltzes of Johann Strauss to Berlin and its highbrow critics he programmed on the one hand uncompromising modern music, on the other plucking obscure works from the dustbins of history. The premiere of Berg's Lulu suite, for example, was preceded by a Concerto a due cori by the unknown Stolzel. It was Kleiber's determination to premiere Lulu itself that brought his conflict with Nazi authorities to a head, and in December 1934 he resigned, leaving Germany. He had already established a foothold in South America, and it was here that he and his young family settled during the war years, taking Argentine nationality. Cast lists of the seasons he led at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, read like a Who's Who of great singers of the period: Rose Bampton, Emanuel List, Herbert Janssen and Alexander Kipnis were stalwarts, and others included the Konetzni sisters, Set Svanholm, Flagstad and the great Hans Hotter. Here he conducted all the great Mozart and Wagner operas, as well as Strauss (Richard and Johann), Gluck and Honegger. After the war he made a brief, unhappy return to Berlin, where his determination that music should be free from political interference gave him trouble with the authorities in both sectors of the city. His Covent Garden appearances were revelation, matched only by those of his son a generation later, and he raised the company to new heights, but he found the English climate disagreeable and left London on the Eve of Coronation in 1953. In a just world, the Staatsoper in his native Vienna would surely have been his but, as he once said, 'People ask me why I never conduct in Vienna. The answer is quite simple: because I come from there."
Repertoire For those who know Kleiber only from his late Decca recordings, the sheer range of his repertoire comes as a shock. Though based on a foundation of Austro-German classics, it was highly eclectic, and his enthusiasm for the new was balanced by a keen awareness of tradition. Works by Frederick the Great and Spontini were in his Berlin programs, while in South America he played music not just by Ginastera and De Falla but a host of less-known local composers. Among the English music he conducted during his Berlin years were works by both Purcell and Lord Berners. In the opera house, works by Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss rubbed shoulders with Berg, Tchaikovsky and Bizet. Kleiber's 1951 Italian debut came in celebrated production of the rarely- heard / Vespri siciliani with Callas and B.Christoff(now on Urania), followed by the world premiere of Haydn's L 'anima del filosofo with the same singers. Technique Kleiber's early conducting style was lively and agile, with a palpable sense of excitement, but he developed a remarkable economy of gesture that generated a focused energy - a quality evident in all his recordings. Archive footage from the 1930s shows a man somewhat self-conscious in front of the camera, with a straightforward, robust beat nevertheless capable of real wit, grace and expressiveness. Later film shows increased authority, a contained but confident style in which tiny nuances contain real purpose and power. Curt Prerauer, who worked with Kleiber in Berlin, suggested it was because he felt the music so intensely that he had to control this exuberance with a classical sense of discipline. This is the secret of Kleiber's success with Mozart and Beethoven, where his sense of style was years ahead of its time, combining poise with intensity. More than any other conductor of his time, Kleiber succeeded in reclaiming Beethoven as a radical (above all in Eroica and Fifth symphonies), while consolidating his place in the classical tradition. Similar qualities marked out his Richard Strauss. The celebrated Vienna Der Rosenkavalier for Decca - still a top recommendation - is remarkable for its clarity in even the busiest pages, and manages above all to convey sentiment without a trace of sentimentality. 2002
1. Preface |
