The great unknown

Who was Carlos Kleiber, and why has he been voted the best conductor of all time?

Carlos Kleiber — the name evokes both Hispanic and German spheres — cancelled performances, never gave interviews, claimed he only conducted when the fridge was empty, and told Placido Domingo he’d prefer to devote his time to drinking wine and making love. He only conducted 96 concerts in his life (does Valerie Gergiev notch up more in a year?). Yet, according to Claudio Abbado, Kleiber was the most important conductor of the 20th century. He scarcely even wanted to be ‘a contender’, yet staggeringly, he was recently voted the most inspiring conductor of all time by a BBC survey of 100 conductors. Who was this remarkable man? Why was he so revered by professionals and audiences alike?

Domingo thinks that Carlos was the most musical person he has ever met, feeling a ‘tremendous emptiness at losing a friend and a genius’ on his death (seven years ago this month).