And the winner of the first Carlos Kleiber Prize is…
main… a youngish Greek conductor, Constantinos Carydis.
He’ll get 10,000 Euros and a night conducting Offenbach’s Contes de Hoffmann at the Bavarian State Opera next week.
The winner was chosen by two of Munich’s chief conductors, Kent Nagano and Mariss Jansons, and by the opera and orchestra managers, Nikolaus Bachler and Holger Schinköthe (that’s not a name you’re often going to see spelled correctly).
So what’s Constantinos Carydis got going for him? He’s 37, from Athens and, judging by his promo pics, hot. 
Here‘s his agent’s blurb.
You can be sure that, whatever he does from now on, he will be labelled the first winner of the Carlos Kleiber Prize. Tough act to follow.
First time I hear about this prize, and I used to be pretty well aware of everything that’s going on in the conducting competition scene. Or is this more like the Nestle prize – not a real public competition in front of live audience?
The Hoffmann engagement isn’t part of the prize – he was announced for that new production from the start.
Why di you seem so blasé ?
This probably means a lot for this young conductor and might allow him to have more visibility and more opportunities. Give him a chance! He might be a great conductor !