32 Facts About Erich Kleiber

Erich Kleiber was an Austrian, later Argentine, conductor, known for his interpretations of the classics and as an advocate of Neue Musik.

Erich Kleiber played an important part in the creation of The Royal Opera in London, but a plan for him to return to the Berlin State Opera in the 1950s fell foul of politics.

Erich Kleiber was regarded as an outstanding conductor of Mozart, Beethoven and Richard Strauss and encouraged modern composers, including Alban Berg, whose Wozzeck he premiered.

Erich Kleiber died suddenly in Zurich at the age of 65.

Erich Kleiber was born in Wieden, Vienna, on 5 August 1890, the second of the two children of Dr Franz Otto Erich Kleiber, a teacher, and his wife Vroni, nee Schoppl.

Erich Kleiber's father died in 1895 and his mother died the following year.

In 1900, after the death of his grandfather, Erich Kleiber returned to Vienna to live with an aunt and study at a Gymnasium.

Erich Kleiber was able to attend performances at the Musikverein, the Volksoper and Hofoper where Gustav Mahler was the musical director.

Gal pointed out that the traditional route to becoming a conductor was to start as a Korrepetitor in one of the many opera houses in German-speaking countries, but Erich Kleiber had never been taught to play the piano.

In July 1908 Erich Kleiber left Vienna and studied art, philosophy, and art history at the Charles University in Prague.

Erich Kleiber bought a piano and taught himself to play it, took organ lessons, and mastered the curriculum well enough to pass the conservatory's examinations.

Erich Kleiber was taken on as a coach at the New German Theatre in 1911, and began to get work as an accompanist, working in 1912 with Alfred Piccaver.

Erich Kleiber, invited to conduct a single performance of Fidelio in August 1923, made a highly favourable impression, and three days later he was appointed to succeed Blech with a five-year contract.

Erich Kleiber, who was not Jewish, politically active, or otherwise persona non grata with the Nazis, could have continued his career under their regime, but he would not accept their racial policies or their stifling of artistic freedom.

When Berg's new opera Lulu was banned as Entartete Musik Erich Kleiber resigned from his post at the State Opera.

Erich Kleiber conducted the final opera performances to which he was contractually committed and then left Germany with his wife and children in January 1935.

Erich Kleiber made his British debut with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1935, and was a frequent visitor to Amsterdam, Brussels and other European cities.

Erich Kleiber repudiated his contract with La Scala, Milan in April 1939, shortly after Mussolini's fascist regime enacted its own anti-semitic legislation.

Insofar as Erich Kleiber had a base during these years it was in Buenos Aires; he became an Argentine citizen in 1936.

Erich Kleiber took charge of the German opera seasons at the Teatro Colon between 1937 and 1949, and conducted in Chile, Uruguay, Mexico and Cuba.

At the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Erich Kleiber conducted 29 different operas during 10 seasons.

Erich Kleiber conducted the Western Hemisphere's premiere of Die Frau ohne Schatten in Buenos Aires in 1949.

Erich Kleiber's contribution was of crucial importance to the development of the company.

The Covent Garden management hoped Erich Kleiber would become the company's musical director, but he was not willing to commit himself.

Almost at the end of Erich Kleiber's career there was a debacle after he accepted an invitation to resume his pre-war post at the Berlin Staatsoper.

In 1951 the East German authorities invited Erich Kleiber to become musical director when the rebuilding was complete.

The reopening was scheduled for 1955, but as the time approached, Erich Kleiber became increasingly aware of state interference in the running of the house.

Erich Kleiber wrote, "I have had to acknowledge that the spirit of the old theatre cannot reign in the new building", and he resigned before the re-opening.

In Russell's view the collapse of Erich Kleiber's hopes for the Staatsoper was a blow from which he did not recover.

Erich Kleiber died suddenly in Zurich on 27 January 1956, aged 65.

Erich Kleiber was a composer; among his works are a Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto, orchestral variations, Capriccio for Orchestra, numerous chamber music works, piano pieces, and songs.

Erich Kleiber's recordings include the following, many of which have been reissued in digital transfers:.