Biography

1930 Born on 3 July in Berlin, the second child of Erich Kleiber and Ruth Goodrich, and baptized as Karl Ludwig Bonifatius Kleiber.

1935 Erich Kleiber leaves Germany in protest against the Nazi regime, and Carlos and the family lead a nomadic life, eventually settling in South America in 1940.

1949 Carlos studies law and chemistry in Zurich, but the following year his father agrees to let him study music in Buenos Aires. In due course he conducts his first concert in Montevideo.

1953 He goes to Germany, to which Erich has returned, and starts work as a freelance répétiteur.

1955 He makes his stage debut conducting Millöcker’s operetta Gasparone in Potsdam, under the pseudonym Karl Keller. His father is impressed and delighted.

1956 Erich Kleiber dies unexpectedly in January.

1957 Carlos becomes répétiteur and, three years later, conductor at the Düsseldorf Opera. He also guests-conducts elsewhere.

1961 Marries the Slovenian ballet dancer Stanislava Brezovar.

1964 Joins the Zurich Opera.

1966 Appointed First Kapellmeister in Stuttgart, where he scores triumphs with Wozzeck and then Der Freischütz, bringing him his first taste of fame.

1967 Carlos’s mother dies unexpectedly.

1968 He has major triumphs as a guest in Munich with Der Rosenkavalier, Otello and La traviata.

1971 His daughter Lillian is born.

1973 Now a freelance conductor, Carlos makes his debut at the Vienna State Opera conducting Tristan und Isolde and makes his first recording, Der Freischütz, to tremendous acclaim.

1974 Makes his debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Der Rosenkavalier) and Bayreuth Festival (Tristan und Isolde) and conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, with which he also records Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, an exceptional success.

1975 Records Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony in Vienna (completed in 1976) and Die Fledermaus in Munich.

1976 La Scala debut with Der Rosenkavalier and Otello, and recording of La traviata in Munich.

1978 Records Schubert’s Third and Eighth symphonies in Vienna, conducts an internationally televized performance of Carmen in Vienna, and makes his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

1980 Scores enormous triumph with Otello at Covent Garden, records Brahms’s Fourth Symphony in Vienna and begins his last studio recording, Tristan und Isolde, in Dresden.

1988 Makes his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting La bohème.

1989 Carlos is acclaimed when his New Year’s Concert in Vienna is televized worldwide.

1994 Conducts his last opera in Vienna, Der Rosenkavalier, issued on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon.

1999 Conducts his last concert, in Cagliari.

2003 His wife dies suddenly.

2004 Carlos Kleiber dies on 13 July at his holiday home at Konjšica, Slovenia.