Beethoven's Shadow

By: Jonathan Biss

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 1 hr and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

The American pianist Jonathan Biss is known to audiences throughout the world for his artistry, musical intelligence and deeply felt interpretations. What is less known until now is that Jonathan Biss writes about music in a most compelling and engaging way. For anyone who has ever enjoyed a Beethoven concert or a Beethoven recording or one of the many films about Beethoven, this audiobook is an inspiring listening experience. For those of you who have heard Beethoven in concert or listened to a Beethoven recording, Jonathan Biss takes you behind the scenes of those performances. If your musical interests are much broader than Beethoven or if your interests focus on the creative process , this will fully engage you.

“On April 24th, 2007, Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 109 made me lose my mind.” So Jonathan Biss opens this book. He goes on to describe the complex and by no means all positive impact of the technology of the recording process on the experience of performing and listening to music. He also describes the legacy of generations of teachers. You are there when Leon Fleisher teaches Jonathan Biss just as Artur Schnabel taught Leon Fleisher before him. You experience the growth of a talented young musician as he becomes a fully mature artist. Most compelling of all, Jonathan Biss creates an almost spiritual introduction to the making and experiencing of music. He has, in effect, invited the reader into the world of the composer and the performer.

Jonathan Biss includes an annotated audio guide to deepen the experience of anyone who enjoys listening to classical music.

It is an unforgettable experience.

Jonathan Biss has recently begun a nine year project of recording all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas.

©2011 Jonathan Biss (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Required material for musicians!

I've never seen a more detailed and logical description of the rewards and challenges of musical performance.
If you want substance and not just a collection of anecdotes, this is the book for you.

Who doesn't like Beethoven

with that I await the rebuttal. This piece is very insightful into a performer's training and issues that arise from the mechanical focus. Very interesting.

Of greatest value to performers

As a lover of Beethoven, I found Biss's own obvious devotion to Beethoven to be moving. Professional musicians will find it most useful, since he is discussing the choices of a performer rather than simply analyzing Beethoven's music. It leaves me with a very high opinion of the sincerity and devotion of Jonathan Biss to Beethoven, and I will look for his CDs of the Beethoven cycle.

Interesting Inside Account of a Pianist

A book of elation, really, perhaps bordering on boasting, but who can contain the joy of a successful life as a pianist? I didn't hold any boasting against him. The book covered what it felt like to receive lineage lessons to being in demand to making recordings of the full catalog of Beethoven's Sonata's, so it is a nice slice of such a lucky life and curious mindframe, irrepressibly shared here.

inside Performance

What a wonderful, insightful story on the need to express through music, with all its considerations; passion, precedence and perfection among others. Jonathan Biss is an amazing musician and scholar focused on Beethoven and his piano sonatas. (he offers a class from Curtis on Coursera on this subject). He reveals his story using history and anecdotes with compelling thoughts from his teacher and teacher's teacher . Great insights for all musicians and lovers of the muse. iThe reading is fine but having heard Mr. Biss speak I really wished it was he that delivered his story.

Riveting

This book had my full attention beginning to end! Well paced, knowledgeable, and instructive. Heartfelt.

Good not great

I like that this audiobook is inspiring to go beyond the polished, perfect forms of art and go deeper into the dynamics of the experience. And yet overall this audiobook missed an opportunity to appeal to a wider audience by incorporating parts of the musical pieces in with the narration. Parts of this were boring.

Recommended reading for muso"s.

I am a pianist who studied Beethoven and played many of these sonatas so I can relate to this book. His observations are so interesting and I like his playing and his work. I look forward to a full book along these lines.

A Serious Musician

Jonathan Biss goes as far as humanly possible to describe a musician's relationship to music in terms accessible to non-musicians.

Biss Fully Grasps Beethoven’s Spirit

I was fortunate enough to take on online Curtis Conservatory course on the Beethoven Sonatas as he was recording them and it opened up so much in terms of understanding and enjoying Beethoven, especially the sonatas. This audio offering, Beethoven’s Shadow is a primer for his multi-semester course and a pleasurable refresher for me. The orator does a very good job though it would have been nice to hear Jonathan’s voice read his material. I highly recommend this Audible offering for any music-lover. I recommend listening to one or more of the sonatas after digesting this material; it truly does make a difference in tangible and delightful ways.