Reviews

Beethoven's Shadow by Jonathan Biss

marljose's review against another edition

3.0

This is one of those books that makes me realize I'm only smart enough to know that I'm not that smart.

jcooper221's review against another edition

4.0

This was a surprisingly good read. Mostly, this book covers the music of classical composers (particularly Beethoven), how the music world has evolved with the development of recording techniques, the relationship between a musician and their music, and other snippets of wisdom that are useful to any musician. The reading was difficult as he tended to use a lot of big words and elevated speech, so I would have to stop occasionally and think about what he was getting at. I would definitely recommend this to any musician, especially pianists who know something of Beethoven and his music.

countessjess's review against another edition

2.0

Well, Jonathan Biss certainly loves Beethoven.

I found this to be an interesting read (well, listen - it was a free gift from Audible), and at only 2 hours long it is worth the listen. Biss expresses his feelings for music and Beethoven as beautifully as he can - in words. At times it felt a bit over my head - sure, I like music, but without having a passion for it like Biss so clearly does, there were parts that I couldn't understand as a musician could.

Otherwise, this was an interesting read on Beethoven, recording, composing, and the mind of a pianist.

affiknittyreads's review

3.0

I am not a musician myself, but I am an enthusiastic listener of concert music and my younger son is a piano student who is classically trained. Some of this book went right over my head, but I do feel as thought I gained some insight into the experience of learning and playing Beethoven.

grayxen's review

3.0

this doesn't seem like a subject a book should be about since the only people who would enjoy it are probably genius young musicians like the author. it seems more like academic forum discussion material. i don't see many people relating to his passion for pieces of music. he comes across as obsessed and one-dimensional - like a savant almost. he knows everything about classical music and doesn't know or want to know about anything else. there are many other wonderful things one can be passionate about in life instead of being stuck overthinking every note in every concerto for decades. it does however help those of us who don't constantly focus on classical music understand it from a different perspective.

colophonphile's review

Confused I didn't mention this when I read it, which is several months ago. Been meaning to write something more in depth at Disquiet.com, or elsewhere. In the meanwhile: this book is a pianist talking about the difficulty about recording, by which he means both recording in general, and specifically recording an extended survey of Beethoven's work. Given that he has indeed written a book (or at least a lengthy Kindle Single), he protests a little too much about not actually being an author. It does get him off the hook a bit for logical inconsistencies. This isn't a book to concern yourself about when the author contradicts himself. What's worth focusing on is a musician who is still very much in the live performance tradition writing cogently about the complications of freezing those moments.

lyriclorelei's review

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I liked the discussion of playing for a recording vs for a live audience, I would've liked a little more about the music of Beethoven rather than just adoration, but.

lori_c13's review against another edition

1.0

I thought this would have more about Beethoven and his life and maybe an interpretation of his music but it wasn't what I thought. It was more like a diseration of someone learning to play his music.

danperlman's review against another edition

3.0

Read this book for an online class I'm taking - an interesting personal story of the author's (and professor's) relationship to the subject matter, the Beethoven sonatas.