Thomas Beecham
An Obsession with Music
John Lucas
Thomas Beecham was one of Britain's greatest conductors of orchestral music and opera as well as an entrepreneur and impresario of exceptional energy and brilliant wit. This new life places him - musically, politically and socially - in the troubled times in which he lived and corrects the stories and myths, many of them Beecham's own making, that have grown up around this uniquely gifted and controversial figure.
Drawing upon extensive research, Lucas presents new material on his early years, his complicated private life, his father's catastrophic attempt to buy a large part of Covent Garden - which brought the family to its knees financially - and the orchestras and opera companies that Beecham founded. New light is shed on his visits to Nazi Germany and his view of its leaders, as well as the much misunderstood and previously unchronicled years of the Second World War, which he spent in Australia and America.
Thomas Beecham: An Obsession with Music will change the way we view this complex personality and remain the standard biography for years to come.
JOHN LUCAS was on the staff of the Observer for 25 years, completed Peter Heyworth's monumental biography of Otto Klemperer, wrote the biography of Reginald Goodall, and is responsible for the current entries on Beecham and Klemperer on the New Grove
BEECHAM IN REHEARSAL: This book will include a full-length CD of Beecham rehearsing the RPO. It features music by Haydn, Mozart, Handel, Liszt and a remarkable movement from Beethoven's 5th Symphony. | |
DETAILS
40 b/w illustrations
Pages: 416
Size: 23.4 x 15.6
13 digit ISBN: 9781843834021
Binding: Hardback
First published: 18/Sep/2008
Price: 47.95 USD / 25.00 GBP
Imprint: Boydell Press
Subject: Music
BIC class: AVH
STATUS: Available
Details updated on 03/02/2010
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Reviews
This is the best biography of a musician I have read for a very long time...one which all genuine music lovers should possess. International Record Review
Beecham's insensitivities...have to be seen in the context of his kindnesses, which were numerous and generous. Lucas holds the two in balance, which is an asset of his enthralling book. [Glasgow] Herald, Conrad Wilson
John Lucas's brimming biography...reminds us just how much...we owe him. Sunday Times, David Cairns
Lucas has excelled himself: this is in every way a magnificent achievement...the wit, exuberance and professionalism of his subject come across wonderfully well. Classic FM Magazine [Book of the Month, 5 Stars]
Impeccably researched...Lucas is excellent on the visits to Australia and America. Spectator
[Beecham's] rackety private life makes for many an entertaining page in... [this] thorough study of a man who changed the face of British music for ever. David Mellor, Mail on Sunday
Ein faszinierendes Buch...unbedingt empfehlenswert. Orpheus
Not only a very good biography, it is, in the circumstances, an extraordinarily concise one. The Oldie [Richard Osborne]
[Beecham] meets his match in his engaging and erudite biographer. Opera
Lucas' thorough, exhaustive and often highly amusing biography will...re-establish Beecham as one of the foremost musical personalities of the last hundred years. Classical Music
Remarkably thorough...A good read...and a solidly informative biography. BBC Music Magazine
Lucas [expands upon Beecham's international reputation] with the sort of balanced judgments and care for detail that bring fresh perspective. Financial Times
A quite spectacular biography. This England
A fully comprehensive chronicle of...an extraordinary life...in a wealth of mesmerising detail, whole swathes of which have previously been completely unknown. Classic Record Collector [Lyndon Jenkins].
A masterly combination of elegantly presented research and keen insight...a biography that is in every way worthy of him. Wagner JournalA detailed, well-written, and generous biography and it will stand for some time. FanfareLucas's book is everything it should be and almost everything it could be. He has the rare ability to turn crammed note cards into fluent, entertaining prose. Berkshire Review
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