This landmark BBC series, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, presents the lives and works of 7 pivotal figures in Western music, with outstanding performances, dramatizations, and insightful interviews with respected artists and scholars.
Directed by Jill Marshall. For many people, musicians and laymen alike, Beethoven is the most admired composer in the history of Western classical music - not only because of the intellectual rigour of his music, but also its expressive power. Beethoven's struggle to resist being defeated by his deafness has a parallel in his music. This program explores all aspects of Beethoven's life, the music and the man, his views on life, politics and the French Revolution. Contributors include conductors Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Michael Tilson Thomas, pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy, violinist Peter Cropper from The Lindsays, musicologist Charles Rosen, sociologist Tia de Nora, director Sir Peter Hall, Beethoven expert John Suchet and Beethoven scholars Barry Cooper, Bill Meredith, Basil Deane and William Kinderman.
