On Air Now
The Classic FM Hall of Fame Hour with Tim Lihoreau 9am - 10am
Listen to John Suchet’s new podcast, Beethoven: The Man Revealed
25 January 2021, 10:38 | Updated: 25 January 2021, 10:41
All 52 episodes of Classic FM presenter and Beethoven aficionado John Suchet’s fascinating exploration of Beethoven’s life and works will be available for on-demand listening.
2020 was the year of Beethoven.
Yes, we know a few other things distracted us throughout the year, but didn’t prevent John Suchet from embarking on a comprehensive journey through the great composer’s incredible life and music in a landmark 52-week radio series.
And now, that series – Beethoven: The Man Revealed – is available as a podcast, so you can listen on-demand, wherever and whenever you like.
Produced especially for Global Player, the official Classic FM app, the podcast launched with Episode 1 – The Boy Beethoven on Wednesday 16 December – Beethoven’s birthday – and features music by the great composer that we know and love, alongside rarely-heard gems that give us an insight into the complex genius.
“A good Beethoven performance should turn your knuckles white from gripping the arms of your seat, your nerves shredded, but leaving you imbued with a feeling of exhilaration and triumph, as well as deep love and admiration for a man who suffered the worst fate that can befall a musician, yet overcame it,” John Suchet says of the great composer.
“Beethoven’s music is evidence of his iron will and determination, his resolve not to give in to his deafness, but to triumph over it.”
All the Beethoven pieces featured in this podcast are taken from the 90-disc Naxos box set, The Complete Beethoven Edition. You can buy yours by heading to Presto Classical and Europadisc.
Read more: 25 things you literally *didn’t know* about Beethoven >
A taste of the first episode of Beethoven: The Man Revealed is below:
Episode 1 – The Boy Beethoven
In the first episode, John discovers the real meaning behind one of Beethoven’s most famous pieces, Fur Elise, and introduces us to the boy Beethoven, discovering some of his earliest works, including the nine variations on a theme he wrote at the age of eleven, and an unpublished piece he composed as a teen, sometimes known as his Piano Concerto No.0. John also reveals the biggest influence on Beethoven’s childhood; the teacher who recognised the young Ludwig as the genius that he was.
Beethoven: The Man Revealed is available on Global Player, the official Classic FM app. Visit www.globalplayer.com. Click here for Naxos’s 90-disc, Complete Beethoven Edition.
