Passion and Pain

The second volume of John Suchet's compelling trilogy about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven depicts the composer at the height of his powers, famous throughout Europe, championed by wealthy patrons, sought out by other musicians, yet all the time beset by the great tragedy of his lifehis deafnessand struggling to come to terms with it. Beethoven unveils the towering works of the so-called heroic periodincluding the Eroica Symphony, the Fifth, the Pastoral Symphony, the Emperor Concerto, the Appassionata Sonata, the Kreutzer Sonataas he receives the adulation of the audience and struggles alone in the middle of the night to hear the great music he is creating.