Erich Kleiber at NBC
CD-1112(1)
Connoisseurs of historical performances will certainly know the famous photograph taken at a reception in Berlin in 1929, showing conductors Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini, Erich Kleiber, Otto Klemperer, and Wilhelm Furtwängler. Kleiber was the youngest of these esteemed maestros, and today remains perhaps the least known of them.
This situation is doubtless due in part to the fact that of the five, he by far had the smallest recorded legacy and certainly the fewest appearances in the US. These circumstances should not however lead us to underestimate Kleiber, who in 1923 became the youngest Generalmusikdirektor in Germany, at that country's premiere opera house, the Berlin Staatsoper.
Kleiber had a falling out with Nazi leaders and left Berlin in 1935, becoming a wanderer and guesting at various European venues. He settled with his family in Chile in 1940, conducting mainly at the Teatro Colon during the war, as well as in Havana. When hostilities ended, he did not immediately return to Europe as might be expected. He did however accept an invitation to lead the NBC Symphony in four concerts in February-March 1946. Toscanini appreciated his music-making and Kleiber was invited back for another quartet of concerts presented in this CD set, containing a broad cross-section of his symphonic repertory favorites.
CD-1112(1) Erich Kleiber at NBC: Four Complete Concerts from 1947/48, Previously Unissued.
CD No. 1 (50:57) (Concert of 20 Dec. 1947). Borodin: Symphony No. 2 in B Minor; Weber: Konzertstück für Klavier in F Minor, Op. 79 with Claudio Arrau, piano; Falla: Introduction and Dance from La Vida Breve.
CD No. 2 (56:16) (Concert of 27 Dec. 1947) Corelli: Concerto Grosso No.8 in G Minor (Christmas Concerto); Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in Bb Major, D. 485; Johann Strauss: Tales of the Vienna Woods, op. 325 & Gypsy Baron Overture.
CD No. 3 (55:14) (Concert of 3 Jan. 1948). Dvorak: Carnival Overture & Wedding Dance from The Wild Dove. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor; Op 36.
CD No. 4 (55:26) (Concert of 10 Jan. 1948). Beethoven: Egmont Overture Op 84 & Symphony No. 3 in Eb Major,Op 55. AAD. UPC # 017685-11122-8.