The ultimate Elektra? Carlos Kleiber’s
OperaAmid much discussion of Covent Garden’s new production of Elektra, here’s a reminder of 1977.
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The conducting is fabulous, of course. Anything Kleiber fils touched automatically became something special. That said, it was too late for Nilsson to be anywhere near the role, for she was a pitchy mess. Jones was not much better as the lil’ sis, also pitch-challenged.
I exagerate but sometimes I have the feeling the there’s a kind of sect around th fans of Kleber who was a great conductor but also a man very not polite for the musicians and the public with all his unjustify cancellations
Agreed.
There are cults around many conductors….Stokowski (a member myself) Toscanini and Furtwangler to name but three.
You should watch the excellent documentary “I Am Lost to the World”. Fascinating
Yes but they did all more records and they didn’t cancel concerts for some strange reasons. And I have a feeling of snobism in the way the fans talk about Kleiber as the GOAT.
I can only say this. A friend played cello in the Met orchestra for 30 years from 1969. He played for Karajan Bohm Levine etc etc etc. He said Kleiber was “hand down the greatest of all of them and its not even close”. I was lucky enough to hear CK conduct 4 operas at the Met. Simply the best experiences of.my listening career. A Rosenkavalier for the ages. CK was also an enormous Stokowski fan. I agree however that the cancelations were problematic for his career and his repertoire in his head was huge but in real performances tiny. His light rarely came out from under the bushel. But when it did…..
And very much Karajan.
Of course I forgot Celibidache………….
I was playing in the pit for the 1977 Covent Garden Elektra. Kleiber was perfect. He was always polite but demanding in rehearsals. I distinctly remember him beating out the whole bar in 3 at the opening. The 2 semiquaver anacrusis exploding after the 3 silent beats. The momentum never sagged throughout.
Some of us reluctantly distinguish between the supreme musician and the charming but deeply flawed human. We would be, however, emotionally challenged if we had to assess any of his less-than-monumental, performances… if there were any 😉 A card-carrying member of the Kleiber cult.
who cares about cancellations – he was the most exciting by far
The many people who attended performances conducted by a last minute stand-in cared. I was one them once. And I am extremely frustrated that Kleiber didn’t authorize a video releases of the Scala Otello and Boheme from the 90s.
He was one of the greatest of the twentieth century, certainly the second half.
wished anyone nowadays would come close to those mentioned – you must be deaf – last Friday was a pain to witness and one suffered with the once great Nina Stemme who at her prime never came close to Birgit nor Gwyneth
Although Solti’s conducting was often relentless, the 1969 ROH Elektra’s with Nilsson, Resnik and Collier, were stupendous. I went twice, as a student (standing). I’ve never experienced anything else in an opera house reaching that level of vocal magnificence. Orchestrally it was rather wild, but it added to the dramatic tension.
Blimey. I thought Pappano was good the other night, but this is conducting in another league
cannot agree more – there is no one around only a tiny bit coming close to Kleiber – even mediocre Rattle said how poor they all felt when watching Kleiber
what world we are leaving with just mediocrity around especially in the media – knowledge zero
Yes – I just read a review on NewYorkClassicalReview.com of Jakub Hrusa’s concert with the NYPO. The review of the Concerto for Orchestra wasn’t just a bit different than my own impression, it was just totally off. A superb performance and I’ve heard in this music (live) Leinsdorf, Kubelik, Solti and Ormandy. The reviewer had probably only listened to recordings. As you say “zero knowledge”.
Rattle was agreeing with Haitink who was with him attending Kleiber’s rehearsal and said to Simon “I think we are only just beginners in this business.” Levine went to every single Kleiber rehearsal at the Met and Bernstein went to some of them too.
In the first full color book Birgit published many years ago, she had stories in there of Levine and his towel and she mentioned the Kleiber production along with a photo of Kleiber and the singers taking their applause. But in the more recent biography Birgit wrote, which had an English version, Kleiber is not mentioned. But there is a photo of the two of them on the beach. Thought this was weird, as you would think she would want that production in her discography. But it’s not there.
I was there on 10 May 1977. A fantastic, unforgettable evening. The only time I heard Birgit Nilsson, live in an opera.
I still have the programme which is signed by Birgit Nilsson & Gwyneth Jones.
unforgettable and though it wasn’t the best combination at the beginning Birgit was praising Carlos like Freni (Karajan‘s favorite) and literally everyone who ever worked with him – by far the most exciting conductor and only Furtwängler Toscanini and Karajan in this league
anything else is nonsense
The first of your YT clips is the final scene from a later performance (19th May) in the run of 1977, and in much better sound than the second, complete audio you offer, which is the opening night of 6th May, and which has been around for years.
We can only hope that the uploader (Allons à l’Ooera) can make available a recording of the whole of 19th soon…it is a valuable document.
That would be a public service indeed!
Is that Lucia Popp there in that picture with Kleiber?
Naughty, Sue…
It is Gwyneth Jones.
She looked like Popp from that distance.
Fritz Reiner conducted some ELEKTRAs……
A great, great, conductor, for sure, but boy, this starry-eyed, rose-tinted golden-ageism gets stale quickly. For those who haven’t a good thing to say about a single modern production or performer, for whom the best always happened shortly before anyone under 50 was born, there’s an easy solution. Stay at home with your recordings and your eye-wateringly expensive sound system, and let the living get on with living.
Yes, there are exciting performances to hear live today and we should all do that. However I am convinced I will never hear the likes of Kleiber’s Boheme or Rosenkavalier, of Svetlanov’s incendiary Poem of Ecstasy or Karajan’s enormous sound in Bruckner…….and I never heard what someone at Carnegie Hall many years ago described as “the lavaflow of Stokowski’s Tristan Synthesis with the Philadelphians in the 1930s.”
Nilsson + Jones + Kleiber = musical splendour. Period.
Then there’s the biggest lost of it all. If my memory is correct, Klaus Tennstedt was supposed to conduct Elektra at the Met after his legendary Fidelio. Alas, he got sick and Levine took over.
I like Kleiber, but as far as cults go, I am definitely in the Tennstedt camp. Interestingly, both conductors cancelled a lot – Tennstedt mostly due to sickness caused by his unhealthy lifestyle. And Klaus had a bigger repertoire than Kleiber.
But when it comes to greatness there is room for both Klaus and Carlos.
It would be great if the ORF would release the complete material recorded at the rehearsal(s) for the Vienna 1992 NY’s concert, surely more was recorded than just three videoclips for years available on the Youtube. Maybe the VPO could do something about that?
That would be very special…