Through 100 recordings, Lebrecht brings to life the composer as we’ve never seen him before. Unruly, offensive and hopeless in so much of his life, yes, but driven to a fault and devoted to his art, conquering deafness to compose some of the towering works of our culture.
Along the way, we encounter the great musicians who have taken on the challenge of Beethoven, in all their glories and foibles. In this revealing, unique biography, Beethoven emerges as a cornerstone of the modern world.
All recordings are freely available on Idagio and YouTube.
‘The inimitable Norman Lebrecht here turns his glaring spotlight not so much onto the composer as onto responses to him over the intervening centuries. This is a Beethoven book for our pixelated, attention-deficient era… one heck of an enjoyable read.’ -- BBC Music Magazine
'From one of our most prolific and wide-ranging writers on music, here is a connoisseur’s guide to Beethoven recordings fleshed out with vivid bits of biography and memoir. Most books recommend either recordings or works. This singular book does both.' -- Jan Swafford, author of Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph
'With these 100 reverently irreverent venerations, Lebrecht not only burnishes further the immortal legend of Beethoven but demonstrates that language need not end where music begins. An illuminating and uplifting mosaic.' -- Gabriela Montero, pianist and composer
'Norman Lebrecht, in his remarkable book, shows that Beethoven has, in his philosophical approach, as much relevance as he always had – maybe even more in these crazy times.' -- Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra
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