Visitors are invited to contribute accounts of EXPERIENCES they had that involved Carlos Kleiber in some way, or TRIBUTES to him as artist and human being. Some contributions will likely contain both elements. Recollections of having known or met Carlos, of having attended in person a concert or an opera that he conducted, or of having played or sung professionally under him in a performance would be most welcome. But posts by those who simply wish to express their admiration for Carlos’ artistry and humanity will be equally welcome.
Submit your experience here.
Tributes/Experiences
#2
I knew and studied with CK from 1989. It all began when I wrote him a letter while still in grad school at Stanford. He replied, and we became friends. 200 letters, postcards, cartoons and faxes later, together with personal visits, I feel I got to know him quite well. He is the greatest musician I have ever known.
In September 2009, we did a long-form radio doc for BBC Radio 3, with four who knew him well: Plácido Domingo, Christine Lemke-Matwey, Sir Peter Jonas and myself. It’s about 45:00, and available here: www.mediafire.com/?wn4lnykyqkk
This August, Rowman & Littlefield / Scarecrow Press will be publishing my ‘Corresponding With Carlos: A Biography of Carlos Kleiber’, the first full-length book on this unmatched maestro. See http://www.scarecrowpress.com.
Hope you like it!
And thanks again for your wonderful work.
Dr. Charles Barber
Conductor and Artistic Director
City Opera Vancouver
CANADA
Comment
Great, Mr.Barber! All Kleiber Fans wait your book with passion!
— Tommy · Feb 16, 09:40 PM · #
Dear Charles, I think you recognized the first full-length book on Carlos, see www.carlos-kleiber.de … but I think its really nice to see that in US someone appriciates Carlos in this way … good luck
— Alexander Werner · Feb 20, 03:42 PM · #
Alex is totally correct. I should have added “in English”. Alex’s own bio, thorough and detailed, is a tremendous contribution. I highly recommend it.
Thx,
Charles
— Charles Barber · Feb 20, 05:05 PM · #
Dear Charles,
Just wondering when your book will be published? I’ve been looking out for it for the last couple of months to buy online. Really looking forward to it!
— John · Dec 6, 04:40 AM · #
‘Corresponding With Carlos: A Biography of Carlos Kleiber’ runs about 150,000 words, with 689 footnotes and several bad jokes, and may be released in July 2011. There are also several unpublished photos and, I hope, the means to reject forever the notion that CK was merely crazy.
I knew him from 1989 to the end, and he was no such thing. It is a silly cartoon to draw him as Howard Hughes minus the long hair, fingernails, and Mormons.
He was, in fact, a deeply warm and generous man. He had a circle of loving and devoted friends. Those of us lucky enough to know him are unanimous in that view. I hope the book will help correct a record that has distorted the man, and mis-stated the genius.
You would have liked him.
— Charles Barber · Apr 10, 10:07 PM · #