Frédéric Chopin is the pianist-composer par excellence. Regarded as one of the most mesmerising performers of his day, he lives on in his music - his waltzes, mazurkas, etudes, preludes, nocturnes, three piano sonatas, two piano concertos and much more. Here, his life, from his birth in Poland, his famous affair with the French writer George Sand, to his death at the age of 39 in Paris, is told with his music featuring prominently.
We think of Chopin as a 'frail, sheltered genius' but this forthright portrait demonstrates he was far more boisterous than that. Cheerful as a youth, it was only later that the glare of publicity, the change from local to national celebrity, made Chopin guard his privacy more carefully. This is clearly presented in Jeremy Siepmann's sympathetic account of the life of one of the key figures in Romantic music, and emphasised in the very personal portrayal by the English classical actor Anton Lesser.
This biography of Frederic Chopin, with commentary on his works, including beautifully played samples of the pieces under discussion, is to my mind a near perfect use of the audio format. Siepmann writes with acumen and sympathy about both the man and the music, and reads the narration with equal skill.
--Library Journal...
"Siepmann presents the lives of Beethoven and Chopin through two musical biographies. Combining each composer's music with narrative, he demonstrates the development of each musician's skills and growth as an artist. Each audiobook contains a booklet, which discusses the artist's role in the Romantic Movement, his music, and some information on his life. Also included are musical credits and an outline of each CD, as well as the best-known works of each composer. The diction is clear and precise with either minimal or no accent on the part of narrators Bob Peck, Karen Archer, and Neville Jason, among others. While neither of these [titles] provides startling new insights into the composers, they do present a thorough and interesting sound portrait that will hold the attention of non-musicians. This series would be of special interest to academic libraries and of use to large public libraries. Recommended."
--Sunday Times...
"The spoken-word publisher Naxos is part of the classical music label of the same name, and cross-fertilisation provides a rich musical content for its audiobooks. With his Life and Works of the Great Composers series, Jeremy Siepmann, the former head of music at the BBC World Service, makes liberal use of the Naxos catalogue. But however ravishing and emotional the music, he warns us not to fall for the "Chopin the Romantic" myth. The virtuoso player-composer, a contemporary of Liszt and Mendelssohn, looked to classical discipline - and the character of the piano itself - to give form to his work. Ill-health - he died of consumption in 1849, aged 39 - and his affair with the writer George Sand dominated the other life of the Paris-based Pole in exile."
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