Andrew Palmer, Group Editor
John Suchet's Intimate Portrait Of Beethoven Weaves Personal Experience With Historical Revelation
"Learning about Beethoven is a joyful journey without end," Suchet tells us, and it's clear he has no intention of reaching the terminus. What distinguishes this book is its genesis—a tour of Viennese Beethoven landmarks with Suchet's wife Nula, who suggested he write in a more personal style than his previous works. The result is a travelogue-cum-biography that reveals as much about Suchet's lifelong passion as it does about the composer himself.
The narrative takes on additional poignancy knowing that both Suchet and Nula lost previous spouses to dementia, meeting when their partners were in the same care home. Nula's late husband shared with Suchet a passion for classical music, albeit for Mozart rather than Beethoven. This shared experience of loss and renewal threads through the book, creating a tender counterpoint to the often tumultuous life of the composer.
Structurally, the book comprises short, accessible chapters that trace Beethoven's footsteps through Europe, particularly Bonn and Vienna. We follow Suchet and Nula as they search for the church where Beethoven was baptised, only to discover it was destroyed by lightning and fire— though the font remains. There's something touching about Suchet's evident delight when, after another fruitless search, Nula suggests that "Ludwig is looking after" him.
Throughout, Suchet weaves his personal encounters with Beethoven's music into the narrative. He recalls being a 17-year-old sleeping through Fidelio high up in the gods at the Vienna State Opera, and later, as an ITN reporter, finding solace in the Eroica during an overnight journey from Cyprus to Beirut. These personal touchstones humanise both the biographer and the subject.
Suchet isn't shy about addressing the less appealing aspects of Beethoven's character: his volatility, his arrogance, his "reputation for bluntness bordering on vulgarity," and his tendency to complete work "by the skin of his pants." The composer's notorious court case against his sister-in-law for custody of his nephew Karl receives extensive treatment, revealing how the bitter dispute damaged Beethoven's health and creativity in his final years.
The book offers fresh insights into Beethoven's health and ancestry, including a fascinating chapter on his deafness that draws on a talk Suchet gave to the Medical Society of London.
Perhaps most valuable are Suchet's debunkings of Beethoven myths, including the story of the composer's supposedly drunken father pulling him from bed to play piano at night—a legend Suchet traces to "a single sentence in a memoir by an obscure court cellist."
The final chapter, added after a chance encounter at a book signing, creates a perfect coda. Suchet meets a direct descendant of Giulietta Guicciardi, dedicatee of the Moonlight Sonata and the woman to whom Beethoven proposed marriage. Once again, Suchet feels "his chest constrict and his breath quicken"—a reaction that encapsulates his enduring wonder at Beethoven's world.
What emerges is not just another biography of a musical giant, but a testament to how art resonates through lives and generations. Suchet's enthusiasm is infectious, and readers will likely feel compelled to follow in his footsteps, both literally through the streets of Vienna and figuratively through Beethoven's remarkable musical landscape.
While devotees of more scholarly musical analysis might occasionally wish for greater depth, the book's strength lies precisely in its accessibility and personal touch. Like the opening notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony—the famous "dit-dit-dit-dah" that Suchet references—this book is distinctive, memorable, and invites listeners and readers alike into the composer's world with an irresistible energy.
John Suchet
ISBN 13: 978-1-78396-810-7
Published by Elliott & Thompson
More information here.