Carlos Kleiber: Orchestras will teach you all you can learn about conducting

Carlos Kleiber: Orchestras will teach you all you can learn about conducting

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norman lebrecht

February 16, 2017

We have seen a letter from the great conductor to someone asking for lessons.

Dated 29 June 1999, here’s what Kleiber advises:

Dear

I never do any teaching! (And I hardly conduct anywhere any more).

Judging by your CD, you aren’t a beginner by any means. Orchestras* will teach you all that you’re capable of learning about conducting.

Try as coach in some opera company in the US. When the conductor falls sick, there’s a chance to take over a performance. If you don’t blow it, you’re in. Symphonies can wait. Symphonic music means mainly rehearsal. Opera means technique, in the broader sense of the word. With a good technique, you can forget technique. It’s like with manners. If you know how to behave, you can misbehave. That’s fun! (At least, that’s my theory).

Good luck!

Yours sincerely

 

Carlos Kleiber

*And watching conductors – preferably lousy ones – at work. (They’re everywhere!)

PS This letter is all I can do for you. OK?

 

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