John Suchet – In Search of Beethoven: A Personal Journey

A Presto ‘Book of the Year’ from star journalist and Classic FM presenter, John Suchet

John Suchet’s most personal book is dedicated to the life of an extraordinary composer. Part biography, memoir and travelogue, it draws on Suchet’s own life and career as a new anchor and foreign correspondent to show how Beethoven’s music has accompanied him through the best and worst of times. It was with him as a music-loving and adventurous teenager, as a journalist in war-torn Beirut, and, as he has continued to explore the old cities of Bonn and Vienna, in search of the man behind the music. In this compelling book, we see Beethoven brought vividly – and sometimes painfully – to life. Suchet traces Beethoven’s footsteps from his early years in Bonn to his dying days in Vienna, taking us on a journey both literal and symbolic, as he uses his own experience as a Beethoven aficionado to show the life-changing power of great music.

John Suchet OBE is a bestselling author, journalist, radio and TV presenter. He was the voice of morning radio on Classic FM for almost a decade and before that, he was one of the UK’s best-known television journalists and newscasters, regularly presenting ITN’s flagship News at Ten for nearly 20 years. A recognised authority on Beethoven, he is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Beethoven: The Man Revealed (2020), as well as biographies of Mozart, Strauss, Verdi and Tchaikovsky.