Review: The Carlos Kleiber Complete DG Recordings

there is another (very striking to my ear) interpretative thing in the first movement of that Brahms 4 where Kleiber seems to have the principal horn play a (written) C6 (sounding E5) in the coda, fourth bar after letter Q in my old score, rather than have the pair playing written C5 (sounding E4) in unison. It looks to me like Brahms being kind to his horn players but I think the octave transposition is an improvement. The ringing quality of that high note contributes a lot to the feeling of "intensity" you get from it. As a youngster I bought this recording (because it was said to be the best) and was really surprised to never hear that thrilling high note on any other recording or performance I heard afterwards!

Thank you. I hope you are encouraged to digress more about your concert-going experiences. They should be a matter of record!

Surprised you don't have a blu ray player - How do you watch Andre Rieu concerts? Do you just stream them?

Your review was both helpful and enjoyable. It was enjoyable particularly for your remarks concerning audio recording media. To my ears, the compact disc remains the ultimate format for classical collectors. A well-remastered analog recording, provided the sonics were good to begin with, obviates any need for a now-fashionable return to LP vinal discs. A well-engineered digital recording is the next best thing to "being there." CDs are virtually indestructible under ordinary conditions of use. Of course there are still those who claim that there has never been a better medium than 78-rpm monaural recordings (preferably played on a wind-up victrola). Antiquarians we will have with us always. My only qualm is that we CD mavens may well be antiquarians ourselves, as physical formats give way to digital streaming. Your talk was also helpful in that I was unfamiliar with Carlos Kleiber's opera recordings, and your favorable reviews of them spoke well of a conductor whose meager recorded legacy in the symphonic repertoire I have never liked. "Sterile" would be the word I would choose to characterize his famous Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms recordings. Thanks again for this informative review.

I too, have Kleiber's Brahms 4 and after the hype my reaction was "It's merely very good" For me the pedal-to-the-metal 4th is the nonagenerian Stokowski's ...now that's a performance. And Dave finally comes clean about his audiophile past, so I promise not to ask any more questions about Dave's speakers, amps, cables, and power conditioners. Great video .

I held the Kleiber DG box in one hand several years ago, and in the other hand I held Bernstein's Mahler cycle with the New York Philharmonic. The price was the same, around 36 euros, and I already had the Bernstein II set with Vienna, the Concertgebouw and the NPO. I took the Bernstein I home with me. I'll get my hands on that Kleiber set some day.

To round out the recorded legacy of C. Kleiber as an opera conductor, we are fortunate to have two of his Rosenkavalier performances on dvd, one from Vienna, the other from Munich, both with outstanding casts. I was unfortunately not able to attend any of his performances of this work in NY back in the 90's, but a close friend who did hear him told me it was one of her most memorable experiences at the Met.

I'm not interested in this complete box but might go for a cheap used copy of Kleiber's La Traviata based on your comments. I'd love to see a video on your ideal Verdi opera list similar to the ones you've done recently on Puccini and Mozart.

Thanks Dave! I absolutely agree that on direct A-B comparison (even on Der Freischutz), I prefer Erich to Carlos every time. In addition to the Pizzicato ending of the Beethoven 7th 2nd movement, they both play the glissandos before instead of on the beat. The only other recording that I have heard do something similar is the Chailly on Decca.

Hehe I'm 42 and I remember quite well the battle VHS Vs. Betamax. I chose VHS, a matter of quantity, of course!!! 😝 And I think SACD was a very good idea but appeared too late. Now I have a good stereo system, with a cd transport (I have too many CD's) and the only concession to "modernity" is a bluetooth dongle... I remember hearing a Carlos Kleiber Beethoven 6th, in the Orfeo label, played so fast that I remember it made me read my book faster than I usually do!!!😆😅

For the last 15 years I listened almost entirely on a pair of Shure in-ear sound cancelling monitors. Fantastic sound, deep rich bass. But just this year I got a Bluesound vault to rip all my CDs into, that pairs with a boom box sized pair of speakers through Bluetooth. It’s a great sound, and it’s been a decade and a half since I’ve listened through speakers so I’ve been enjoying it.

Although I don't like critics that much in general, who does, I have grown to like hearing your opinions. Thanks for putting it out there.

I have an all in one player and thus can play any digital format. My first digital experience was a Denon disk of something and indeed it was a revelation. I never knew before that Alcoa had entered the musical instrument business. Then came DVD audio. A software nightmare!! Next followed SACD which today actually sounds quite good but just as it acquired its wings, Sony decided not to support it. Now comes Blu-Ray. You really need a monitor to navigate. I find the results mixed. The only bright spot in all of this is that more expensive CD "Red Book" players sound pretty good and many quite good SACDs are being or have been issued by smaller classical labels. Oh, by the way, you can get a really good sounding SACD player form six grand and even better for between six and 12. Happy listening. Love this website and the other Classics Today as well. Happy listening!

I got to know Carlos Kleiber when first listening to his legendary recording, the fifth symphony of Beethoven, followed by Brahms 4th, with VPO. Years late I bought the DG CD box and DVD box soon after they were released. I found he conducted operas much more than orchestral concerts. His Die Fledermaus recording with the Bavarian State Opera is second to none. And his "Der Rosenkavalier", I believe, is one of the best. In less than 1000 performances during his lifetime, he had conducted the two operas about 200 times! Though his Brahms 4th is fluent and exciting, to me the interpretation may be less persuasive than Karl Böhm/VPO or Bernstein/VPO. His Schubert "Unfinished" symphony recording may be too "lively" to me and lacks the tranquility the music should convey in some passages. It's a pity that he only recorded Brahms 2nd with VPO, as a live concert video in 1991. Now the bootlegs of his Brahms 2nd /VPO (1988) can be found on Youtube. Besides DG recordings, his Dvorak piano concerto with Sviatoslav Richter (EMI) is also a high-quality performance. By the way, happy new year, Mr. Hurwitz!

"I just don't care"... common sense about audio snobbery. I agree with with you generally about Kleiber. Such a limited repertoire "Greatest Guest COnductor". There is value in a conductor that has a wide repertoire. I mean, someone like Ormandy is so disrespected nowadays, yet he led a great orchestra for decades. Kleiber could never have managed that, musically, or professionally. As for his recording, as a brass player, I love the transposed octaves in the horn in the Finale of Brahms 4. His Tristan (at least orchestrally) I like. Above all, his Vienna Rosenkavalier (video) is world class...

You are a joy.

I have enormous respect for Carlos Kleiber, but prefer other Beethoven 5ths, such as Szell’s (both Concertgebouw and Cleveland) and Wand’s NDR. However, my absolute favorite 7th is Kleiber’s (Vienna and DVD Concertgebouw)! I’ve never found anyone else’s as exciting. I totally agree with you on the Schubert 3rd and got rid of that once DG repackaged the Unfinished with the Brahms 4th and Tristan music. I really like his Brahms (both the Vienna and on DVD Bavarian RO), though there are others I think are as fine, Dohnanyi’s Cleveland for example. The only J.Strauss I own is the Kleiber New Years Day concert on Sony from 1989–quite enough for me! What do you think of his Borodin Symphony 2 with the Stuttgart RSO on Hanssler? I downloaded it, but still prefer Tjeknavorian and Martinon for that work. Great talk, as usual!!

I can't believe how big that box is given the number of albums in it.

Any chance you can do a video on the brand new giant Karl Richter Complete Recordings on DG? 97 CDs and 3 DVDs.

The video prompted me to listen to his Brahms and Schubert again. All heat, but no warmth. Ditto after listening to Beethoven 5 and 7.