Corresponding with Carlos: A Biography of Carlos Kleiber

by Charles Barber

Carlos Kleiber (1930-2004) was the greatest conductor of his generation. His reputation is legendary, and yet astonishingly, in his five decades on the podium, he conducted only 89 concerts, some 600 opera performances, and produced 12 recordings. How did someone who worked so little compared to his peers achieve so much?

Between his relatively small output and well-known aversion to publicity, many came to regard Kleiber as reclusive and remote, bordering on unapproachable. But in 1989 a conducting student at Stanford University wrote him a letter, and an unusual thing the world-renowned conductor replied. And so began a 15-year correspondence, study, and friendship by mail.

Drawing heavily on this decade-and-a-half exchange, Corresponding with Carlos is the first English-language biography of Kleiber ever written. Charles Barber offers unique insights into how Kleiber worked based on their long and detailed correspondence. This biography by one friend of another considers, among other matters, Kleiber's singular aesthetic, his playful and often erudite sense of humor, his reputation for perfectionism, his much-studied baton technique, and the famous concert and opera performances he conducted.

Comic and compelling, Corresponding with Carlos explores the great conductor's musical lineage and the contemporary contexts in which he worked. It repudiates myths that inevitably crop up around genius and reflects on Kleiber's contribution to modern musical performance. This biography is ideal for musicians, scholars, and anyone with a special love of the great classical music tradition.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

365 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the only English-language biography of Carlos Kleiber, so it filled a most pressing need. Even so, the biography section is pretty scant (160 pages). This is followed by 18 pages of black and white photos (including photos of some of Kleiber's handwritten letters), and 116 pages of Kleiber's correspondence. Barber doesn't include his own letters to Carlos, but often explains the gist of what he wrote in order to clarify Kleiber's responses.

Barber doesn't include the small number of purely personal letters that passed between them, which date to the last year(s) of Kleiber's life. His original purpose in writing to Kleiber was to get conducting advice, which Kleiber was at first reluctant to give. But an epistolary friendship developed, which Kleiber seemed to value. He held back discussing his private life, mostly - never mentioning his wife in the letters. Between 1998 and 2003 Kleiber's letters got shorter and shorter and the published ones end with a November 2003 letter. In December 2003 Kleiber's wife died, so the purely personal letters probably contained information about that, and must have been raw and despairing, as his health was in decline too. He died in July 2004.

There is a cringeworthy deceit in Barber's correspondence: he creates a beard/girlfriend/partner for himself, Hilde, almost certainly because he's gay. There is a real Hilde, but she's married to another man. She was Barber's study partner in their doctoral program, and they were close friends. But Kleiber assumes Hilde is Barber's wife, and often sends his greetings and love to her in his letters. Barber explains that Hilde is not his wife; now Kleiber assumes they're "living in sin" (which he approves of). For nearly 15 years, Barber allows Kleiber to believe this fiction, "unchallenged by me because I was initially unsure of his attitudes, and afterward because it was too complicated to explain".

Kleiber was an extremely private and reclusive person, and you have to think he would have loathed having all of this personal correspondence published. But it would be hypocritical to complain about this violation of his privacy since Kleiber groupies so desperately wanted a peek behind the curtain into the mystique of his enigmatic genius. 5 stars because of the absolute rarity of the material.

[Andres Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is divided into two sections: a "brief" biography of Carlos Kleiber (1930-2004), the enigmatic maestro considered by many the most talented of the 20th century, and a section of letters from Kleiber to Charles Barber, a younger conductor with whom the reclusive Kleiber becomes pen pals. For someone of such fame, Kleiber unfortunately left us with very few recordings, virtually no interviews or any writings for publication. Hence, these letters give us a slight opening to a side of Carlos Kleiber we barely know: his quirky wit, his goofy and ever-present sense of humor, his impressive knowledge in many topics (ranging from pop culture to poetry and U.S. history, not just music), and a surprising level of modesty and self-deprecation, a rarity in top conductors. I highly recommend this hard-to-get tome to any music lover interested in the art of conducting, opera, or the lives of the great artists.

[Claudio Di Leva · Rating 5 out of 5]

libro indispensabile ed imperdibile per chi ama la musica ed emozionante per chi, come me, lo ama incondizionatamente. Ho avuto la fortuna di poterlo vedere ed ascoltare dal vivo a Ravenna tanti anni fa e quell'emozione incredibile è ancora vivida tra i miei più bei ricordi musicali. La sua vita è stata condizionata dal comportamento insensato di entrambi i genitori, determinando quella assurda insicurezza che lo ha accompagnato per tutta la vita. Ma forse ha prodotto anche la maniacale caparbietà nello scandagliare ogni partitura fino alla esasperazione. Eterno insoddisfatto di sè, stupito dei consensi ed onorificenze, lentamente si è allontanato dalla musica attiva, forse a poco a poco lasciandosi morire. E se ne è andato dal mondo in sordina schivo e insoddisfatto di sè come ha sempre vissuto e bisognoso di quell'affetto che ha sempre rincorso per tutta la sua vita

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

No reviews of this book yet.

It makes fascinating reading, what really comes through is Kleiber's humour and self deprecating remarks. The first part of the book provides a standard biography with some references to the correspondence that Charles Barber had with Kleiber, the latter part of the book then goes chronologically through most of the letters which cover about 1990-2004. Barber sends Kleiber lots of videos of conductors which he is collecting for Stanford and kleiber gives little witticisms of many of them.

I was lucky enough to see Kleiber conduct Rosenkavalier once, he was quite exceptional and this book goes someway to explaining how he achieved his results, but also how worried and doubtful he was of his own ability - he never thought he was good enough.

[Carlo Mazzini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una ricostruzione accurata ma molto tenera e personale della vita del grandissimo Direttore, grazie all'epistolario tra l'autore (Charles Barber) e Kleiber stesso. Un must per tutti gli appassionati di musica.

[Tom Deneckere · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for Kleiber and for the best idea in the world: to write him a humorous letter and correspond with him for 15 years. Thank you, Charles Barber!

[Clemens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique insight into the mind of a genius

[Jordan Kinsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The footnoting is pretty weird...