Erich Kleiber

Erich Kleiber August 5 1890 – January 27 1956 Was An Austrian Conductor. Born In Vienna Kleiber Studied In Prague. In 1923 After Conducting A Stirring Performance Of Beethoven's Fidelio At The Berlin State Opera He Became That Institution's Music Director. He Was Known For His Interpretations Of The Standard Symphonic And Operatic Repertoire As Well As For Championing New Works. In 1925 For Example He Conducted The Première Of Alban Berg's Opera Wozzeck. When Berg's Second Opera Lulu Was Branded Entartete Musik Degenerate Music By The Nazi Party Kleiber Resigned From His Post At The Berlin Opera In Protest. He Was Not Jewish. 1 Later He Moved To Buenos Aires Where He Worked At The Colón Theater Becoming Its Music Director. Here He Specialized In The German Operatic Repertoire Particularly The Works Of Wagner. Through The Prestige Of His Name He Was Able To Attract Such Luminaries To The Colón As Emanuel List Kirsten Flagstad Viorica Ursuleac In Her Only American Appearances And Set Svanholm. Some Of His Performances From This Period Have Been Available On CDs Of Varying Quality Depending Upon The Conditions Under Which The Original Recordings Were Made. He Took Argentinian Citizenship In 1938. After World War II He Was Offered His Old Position At The Berlin State Opera Which Was Now In The Russian Zone Of The City But After Discovering That The Communists Were No More To His Taste Than The Nazis Had Been He Resigned Without Having Conducted A Single Performance. He Became A Roving Guest Conductor Never Again Having Any Permanent Post. Erich Kleiber Made A Few Recordings Mainly For Decca. Two Operatic Recordings Are Especially Remarkable Mozart's "Le Nozze Di Figaro" And Richard Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier". The Former Was Included In Gramophone Magazine's 100 Greatest Recordings. His Son Carlos Kleiber Was Himself A World-Renowned Conductor. read less