The Life and Works of Beethoven

Read by the author, the reading is fluid and beautifully nuanced. Yes, the illustrative musical passages are sometimes a bit long, and not of the highest audio standard, but the quality is adequate for getting the author's points across. There is a good balance of life and works in the portrayal, my only complaint being that I would have liked a bit more discussion of the musical dynamics in LVB's compositions -- the presentation is light in this regard. The voice of LVB in quotation is absolutely wonderful, positively surly. LVB's life was cosmically tortured, and the story itself is utterly gripping. The author does a wonderful job of contrasting LVB's transcendent music with the pedestrian sorrows of his life. I've listened to this audio book perhaps 5 times -- it's one of those books that you can listen to over and over without losing interest. Warning: after listening to this book, you will want to listen to every composition LVB ever wrote. It's a great introduction to Beethoven.

The program is called The Life and Works of Beethoven, but it is a bit short on the life and heavy on the works. This would not be bad but the sound of the music is not very good and some of the music is played too long. But over all I did enjoy this program.

True, this doesn't give an indepth account of Beethoven's life, but the production's lively and entertaining--it reminds me of great radio. The Life and Works of Chopin is another great title.

This title is mainly music, with small pieces of biography interspersed. If you are looking for music of beethoven, from various genres, with a small amount of anecdote placed in between, this is just the ticket. If you are looking for a biography, or for music with musical analysis, it is not (see the Teaching Company for the latter). I enjoyed it. I have left it on my IPOD for its musical qualities (as if it came from iTunes).

This reminded me of Karl Haas' Adventures in Good Music on NPR. It focuses on Beethoven's character and what was happening in his life when different pieces were composed. It's very accessible to someone unfamiliar with musical terms. Much of the information comes from letters by Beethoven and others, read by various actors.

This is really a wonderfull portrait of one of the greatest composers ever. I always tought of Beethoven's music as being a bit too strong because I only knew the symphony's works, but it was totally fascinating.
A+++ !

Be prepared for a horrible audio experience. The music is espcially bad and a travesty to the genius of Beethoveen. However, the text does contain some interesting facts.

This is true biography in the language of the subject: music. To paraphrase the above quotation: “The Proper Study of Music Is Music.”
There are biographies of composers which describe their lives ad infinitum and give endless details ad nauseum. They are better than nothing, but this biographer knows his subject better: Beethoven's life is described in words and music.
Here is the highest accolade: the biographer's motive is pure.

It is really great intention behind this book, but quality of audio in parts of actual music is very low. The story is moderately interesting. There are better books in print about Beethoven, but this definitely one, that you also will enjoy, as a true fan of the composer.
It will be great, if the same book (books about other composers), but with good quality music will appear in future as part of story. We need more such books, but in higher quality.

Audio is of course a natural format for a musical biography, and this delivers a competent short biography of the great man (turns out, not as stone deaf as the popular image). But this won't grab you like a novel the way a really good biography should, which is a shame considering he was such an interesting and iconic character. It's a bit dull - somehow I never quite connected with the subject at an emotional or psychological level; but you get the facts - often quite sad -without any sensationalist speculation or idle dallying. The splendid thing is the musical excerpts - I could have done with many more, and more musical analysis. Perhaps they were tacked on as an afterthought for the audio edition.
For drivetime, only recommended if you a strong pre-existing interest in Ludwig van.