Review: Beethoven...a brilliantly written account by Jonathon Biss
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2012
"Beethoven's Shadow" is a work of non-fiction by author and pianist Jonathan Biss. This is a Kindle e-book that is available from Amazon.com. It is a 162 Kb download (about 56 pages) and was priced at $1.99 at the time of writing this review.30+ yr old author and pianist Jonathan Biss has been playing piano since he's been 10. He's played, studied and admired other composers such as Mozart, Schubert, Brahms etc., but when all is said and done he invariably returns to is first love...Beethoven.Background... I was attracked to this book for two reasons.1.) I love Beethoven's music. My first serious contact with classical music was as a late teenager when a roommate played his 5th piano concerto (The Emperor)...I was hooked.BTW, I'm tone deaf (just ask my wife...lol). Can't play or sing a single note on key, but I've always loved and had a special appreciation for Beethoven's music.2.) the cover art... a copy of a 1816 manuscript in Beethoven's actual handwriting. This picture brought back memories of when I was reading about Beethoven's life...the music copyists of the time, would often complain bitterly about how difficult it was to accurately make copies of his scores (Beethoven was less than sympathetic)... you can see from this cover just how arduous a task this must have been.This is a well written and thought out work. It is obviously penned by someone who is intimately familiar with Beethoven's music and able to play the piano at a level only a handful of people might ever achieve. Only a person who absolutely loved what he was doing could write with such passion about a subject, that to this point, has consumed his entire life.The author briefly discusses, among other things, how his interpretation of any given piece of music has evolved and changed through the years. How he was influenced by respected teachers, old recordings and there is even some philosophical discussions about the unattainable goal in music...perfection, with all its subjective implications.This is not a book that could appeal to the masses...you'd have to have some love (or at least a liking) for classical music. Because of my affection for Beethoven's work, I found the writing, the thoughts, the anguishes, the concerns and focal points that the author presented in this work made perfect, logical sense to me. I became completely immersed and involved with the thoughts and revelations presented here.Conclusion:An author and pianist that can express himself gracefully in either medium... what a gift!As it is...5 StarsRay Nicholson