For many people, Beethoven is the greatest composer who ever lived. In this portrait-in-sound, actors' readings combine with his music to reveal a titanic personality, vulnerable and belligerent, comic and tragic, and above all heroic, as he comes to grips with perhaps the greatest disability a musician can suffer. No man's music is more universal; few men's lives are more inspiring. In every sense but one - his modest height - he was a giant.
The great bonus of this audio-biography is that the development of Beethoven's music can be heard in the context of his life. What did he write in those early, ambitious years when he was at the peak of his musical powers? What did he write when beset with anxiety over his failing hearing? And what was the music that insisted on pouring out of him, even though he couldn't hear it himself? Jeremy Siepmann draws us into the private world of Ludwig van Beethoven, with the composer portrayed with such rugged vividness by Bob Peck.
This superb documentary features an unpretentious, well-written, intelligent narrative; excerpts from the composer's own correspondence and other contemporary documents; and liberal, lengthy quotations of Beethoven's music. Here... we receive the most balanced and humane account of his personality that this reviewer has encountered outside scholarly circles.
--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."
--The (London) Independent...
"[In] The Life and Works of Beethoven, as the tragic, exhilarating events of Beethoven's life unfold, we hear what he thought of them from his letters and journals as well as from the 'window into the soul' provided by his music. This is an in-depth assessment of Beethoven as a man as well as a great musician. The genius behind it is Jeremy Siepmann, one of our most famous musical broadcasters, who wrote and narrated the text and selected the music."
--Denver Rocky Mountain News...
"A new series on Naxos also offers considerable illumination on music and music makers. 'Life and Works' [is an] ambitious collection, which consists of multidisc box sets devoted to Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt. Given all that recorded space, it's no surprise that the narration is richly detailed. Recitations of observations by contemporaries (Including words by the composer himself) are mixed in, as are musical examples. Nicely written companion books provide a look at the world of each composer, along with the printed text of the narration. These are thoroughly listenable collections. In humanizing their subjects, these discs offer more than mere biographical information--they bring us closer to the men behind the music."
--The Indianapolis Star...
"Naxos AudioBooks continues to show an appreciation of the unique nature of audio books far beyond that of most audio publishers. The Life and Works of Beethoven by Jeremy Siepmann not only gives an overview of the composer's life, it also presents his work within the contexts of both Beethoven's life and his times. Excerpts from some of his most famous pieces illustrate the author's points well. In addition, some of his less widely known pieces are presented that demonstrate particular points about his work or life. The author quotes extensively from letters by and about Beethoven. Additional readers present these, giving the work a sense of immediacy that might be lacking were the lead narrator (in this case the author) to read them himself."
--Gramophone...
"Naxos has been edging into the educational market with [a] cleverly conceived CD series, calling on Naxos recordings that are already available separately. Life and Works is just that, a multi-pack set with a fat book and a spoken narrative interspersed with relevant chunks of music. Written and narrated by writer and broadcaster Jeremy Siepmann, it's a measure of his success that the result is gripping even in cases where particular facts, or stories, are already familiar. The books are very well designed, with biographies, historical background, a graded listening plan, recommended readings, a chronology, a glossary and the full spoken text. The discs are pitched at the usual super budget price point but the documentation warrants an additional charge which bumps the price up to around budget or 'lower mid'...These are expertly presented, richly documented productions, and well worth the money..."
--Sunday Times...
"Generous swathes of the sublimely powerful music, covering most of the greatest hits, complement the words to produce an excellent 'portrait in sound' of a titanic creative talent, and the culture which produced and was forever changed by him. The format is ideal for showing the relationship between events in the composer's life and the feelings evoked by particular pieces of music. From early days as a young arrogant piano virtuoso (already suffering impaired hearing) who held late 18th-century Vienna in thrall, it was a life lived with intense passion."
--Observer...
"This portrait in sound is a great success and, like Beethoven's music - so generously illustrated here - its overall effect is uplifting."
--Guardian...
"Naxos is uniquely fortunate among audiobook producers in being able to plunder the other half of the business, the Naxos music catalogue. ...The four CDs are decently doused in the music. The carload of kids I was driving became frantically excited at Jeno Jando's vigorous Appassionata finale."
Digital Rights Information
OverDrive WMA Audiobook
Burn to CD:
Permitted
Transfer to device:
Permitted
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Permitted
Public performance:
Not permitted
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Not permitted
Peer-to-peer usage:
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All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.
