Listen to Top 100 Audiobooks in Arts & Entertainment, Music

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Title: I Hate Myself and Want to Die

Author: Tom Reynolds

Narrator: Oliver Wyman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-24-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Does the opening "pling pling plinggg" of Bette Midler's "The Rose" fill you with existential dread? Do you cringe at the mere whiff of what Phil Collins is spewing "In the Air Tonight"? Have you ever bolted from a restaurant because Celine Dion's cover of "All By Myself" was threatening to drive you over the edge? Well, turn around, bright eyes because Tom Reynolds is here with I Hate Myself and Want to Die, a laugh-out-loud-till-you're sobbing compendium of the world's most hideously depressing pop songs and a guide to what makes them so heartwrenchingly, earsplittingly sad and bad. With chapters like "I Was a Teenage Car Crash", "I'm Trying to be Profound and Touching but Really Suck At It", "Perfect Storms", and "I Mope, Therefore I Am", Reynolds details the history of melodic misery, from the days of Bobby Darin to the era of Evanescence. Complete with a ranked Countdown of Doom and wonderfully dreary drawings, I Hate Myself and Want to Die is the one book that fans and foes of woeful tunes won't want to live without.

Members Reviews:

I Hate Myself and Want to Die........

A dry read but funny. Something to hold on to when you tuck in the nights you feel like you just want to die. Take your meds and laugh yourself to sleep. He will still be blabbing about obscure 45 rpm records that you didn't even know we're about dying when the drugs wear off and the sun comes up in the morning. You just made it thru the night clutching your body pillow listening to Tom Reynolds cracking jokes about wanting to die in your ear. And you won't feel guilty in the morning. Funny stuff. Better than a suicide hotline. After all, laughter Is the best medicine. Tom Reynolds your a riot! Thanks....xo

I don't hate this book at all.

Breezy, smart, smart alecky, and very funny. Come for the trip down many musical memory lanes, often recalling songs that will make you groan with despair at having been made to recall them, stay for the laughs, of which there are a lot. Thumbs up for a lot of thumbs down songs!

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Title: Signifying Rappers

Author: David Foster Wallace, Mark Costello

Narrator: Robert Petkoff

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-23-13

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Finally back in print and now in audio - David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello's exuberant exploration of rap music and culture.

Living together in Cambridge in 1989, David Foster Wallace and longtime friend Mark Costello discovered that they shared "an uncomfortable, somewhat furtive, and distinctively white enthusiasm for a certain music called rap/hip-hop." The book they wrote together, set against the legendary Boston music scene, mapped the bipolarities of rap and pop, rebellion and acceptance, glitz and gangsterdom. Signifying Rappers issued a fan's challenge to the giants of rock writing, Greil Marcus, Robert Palmer, and Lester Bangs: Could the new street beats of 1989 set us free, as rock had always promised?

Available again at last, Signifying Rappers is a rare record of a city and a summer by two great thinkers, writers, and friends. With a new foreword by Mark Costello on his experience writing with David Foster Wallace, this reissue cannot be missed.

Members Reviews:

Signifying Roomates

My relationship with RAP started out a little funky. I remember hearing Ice-T's "Girls, L.G.B.N.A.F." on a 9th-grade biology trip to Southern Utah. Sony Walkman shared in the back of the bird bus. A bunch of white, prep-school kids from subburban Utah with no tangible idea what the ghetto, urban or underpriviliged was like experimenting with early RAP excess to pubescent abandon.

Fast-forward a year: I'm living in Izmir, Turkey, getting a letter mailed 1/2 around the world from a friend and girl referencing said trip with L.G.B.N.A.F. stamped all throughout. Letter is discovered and read by Father. Father demands to know what L.G.B.N.A.F. means. There is no way in HELL to explain to Father, while driving in Asia Minor, what that ICE-T song meant in Moab or what it means in the here and now. The result of this failed explanation is I can never hear Journey's Greatest Hits (the abumn I was listening to in the car as my father was interrogating me) without thinking of Ice-T (strange mental ebbs and flows). Now fast-forward two decades: watching my wife watch Ice-T on Law & Order: SVU. It is all just a little trippy -- weird convergences of RAP, Journey, Turkey, and crap television all fighting for meaning in my memory. The world IS indeed a DFW essay.

But, like my diet Dr Pepper left outside overnight or a green pear eaten too soon, this book hints at (DFW's) later genius without quite delivering the thing you want. It over-promises and under-delivers on the what, why, and wherefores of RAP. It is almost exactly what you would expect an overwritten book about rap put together by a young, tired genius who hasn't yet found his literary voice/mojo and his college roommate to be like.

The weirdest, and most ironic part of the whole audiobook experience was the end when the narrator, on behalf of Hachette Audio, declares that "no part of the audio recording can be reproduced, copied, used, etc. without prior permission from yadda yadda" A funky ending to a book on an art form of theft, samples, and reproduction. David Foster Wallace would have loved the irony, would have stolen the warning, and would have riffed and rapped about it in a follow-up essay.

Anyway, it was genius in parts, smug in parts, dated in many many sections, angry and alienated through-out, and still -- despite all its flaws -- it moved me and was worth the money.

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Title: Power Chord

Subtitle: One Man's Ear-Splitting Quest to Find His Guitar Heroes

Author: Thomas Scott McKenzie

Narrator: Fred Berman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-17-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 32 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Power Chord is the story of one mans epic pilgrimage to gain rock enlightenment from the gods and guitar heroes of the Golden Age of heavy metal. Author Scott McKenzie set off to make contact with the legendary metal superstars he worshipped in his rural Kentucky youth - men like George Lynch of Dokken, Glen Tipton of Judas Priest, and Ace Frehley of KISS - hoping to gain wisdom and a better understanding of the electric guitar mystique. The result is a veritable treasure trove of enthralling behind-the-scenes stories and "where are they now" revelations that will delight anyone who has ever felt a Mötley Crüe, Guns N Roses, or Black Sabbath song reach out from the speakers and grab them by the ears.

Members Reviews:

Great listen

Really enjoyed listening to this. I grew up listening to these same bands, and it was really cool yo hear this story

GREAT TREAT BOOK!

I'M AT THE POINT YOU ARE AT THE FIRST OF THE BOOK NOW!!! MY HERO ARE FROM THE DEEP PURPLE ERA, BUT I MUST SAY IM GONNA GET ME ONE OF THOSE ESP GEORGE LYNCH GUITARS!!!

Love your book and am looking forward to the next!

ROCK ON HARD!!!!!

Great Book!!!

What made the experience of listening to Power Chord the most enjoyable?

The way Scott takes you on his musical journey, is fantastic!! I still find it really cool, how he was able to actually sit and talk with some of his guitar heroes!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Scott, of course. Cause he's a great story teller!!

What does Fred Berman bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Fred brings the book to life for the listener.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I loved this book, because I am a musician myself.

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Title: The Violin

Subtitle: A Social History of the World's Most Versatile Instrument

Author: David Schoenbaum

Narrator: Mark Ashby

Format: Unabridged

Length: 27 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-04-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

The life, times, and travels of a remarkable instrument and the people who have made, sold, played, and cherished it.

A 16-ounce package of polished wood, strings, and air, the violin is perhaps the most affordable, portable, and adaptable instrument ever created. As congenial to reels, ragas, Delta blues, and indie rock as it is to solo Bach and late Beethoven, it has been played standing or sitting, alone or in groups, in bars, churches, concert halls, lumber camps, even concentration camps, by pros and amateurs, adults and children, men and women, at virtually any latitude on any continent.

Despite dogged attempts by musicologists worldwide to find its source, the violins origins remain maddeningly elusive. The instrument surfaced from nowhere in particular, in a world that Columbus had only recently left behind and Shakespeare had yet to put on paper. By the end of the violins first century, people were just discovering its possibilities. But it was already the instrument of choice for some of the greatest music ever composed by the end of its second.

By the dawn of its fifth, it was established on five continents as an icon of globalization, modernization, and social mobility, an A-list trophy, and a potential capital gain.

In The Violin, David Schoenbaum has combined the stories of its makers, dealers, and players into a global history of the past five centuries. From the earliest days, when violin makers acquired their craft from box makers, to Stradivari and the Golden Age of Cremona; Vuillaume and the Hills, who turned it into a global collectible; and incomparable performers from Paganini and Joachim to Heifetz and Oistrakh, Schoenbaum lays out the business, politics, and art of the worlds most versatile instrument.

Members Reviews:

Everything violin

I really enjoyed this treatise complete on the violin. Whether you make, play or just love to listen to the violin, you will enjoy this book. The research represented by this very detailed book must be immense indeed. As a violin maker I have read many books on the violin and its history, but this one blows them all out of the water. It is all in this book and presented in a wonderful way.

Excellent Book

I went ahead and downloaded this book because I saw that it was Roger Hargrave approved. But I wasn't expecting it to be nearly as good as it was.

I saw that another reviewer complained that it felt like just a bunch of random facts about violins, and I can see what he meant, however I still found it incredibly interesting. There is a lot of history associated with the violin, and this book covers every single aspect of that history from musicians, to making, to literature etc.. I'm actually impressed by how organized it was. David Schoenbaum also throws in some entertaining jokes, anecdotes and other stories that keep you interested in what's going on, and the narrator does a great job delivering even the most sarcastic bits.

Overall I'd say this is one of the best audiobooks I've ever heard. It has so many facts, I will probably listen to it at least three more times before I get them all, but to me that's a bonus.

Disappointing musical history book

After having enjoyed several of the Great Courses musical history lectures, this was very disappointing. It is merely a laundry list of every minuscule item that in any way references or possibly relates to the violin.

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Title: Changing Lives

Subtitle: Gustavo Dudamel, El Sistema, and the Transformative Power of Music

Author: Tricia Tunstall

Narrator: Carol Monda

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-04-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

The story of conductor extraordinaire Gustavo Dudamel, and the music education program, El Sistema, that led him to success.

When Gustavo Dudamel, at the age of 28, ascended the podium at the Hollywood Bowl for his inaugural concert as conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he immediately captivated the hearts of his audience, just as he had the minds of music critics who designated him a modern-day Leonard Bernstein. In Changing Lives, the maestro's story becomes the entry point to an equally captivating subject: El Sistema, the music education program that nurtured his musical talent, first as a young violinist and then as a budding conductor under the mentorship of its founder, Jos Antonio Abreu. What began in Venezuela has now reached children in Los Angeles, New York City, Baltimore, and cities around the world. No matter the location, the overarching goal of El Sistema is unwavering: to rescue children from the depredations of poverty through music. Part history, part reportage, this book reveals that arts education can indeed effect positive social change.

Members Reviews:

A Story of Transformation Through Music

The story narrated in this book is breathtaking. How one man, Juan Antonio Abreu, and his dream of El Sistema, transformed Venezuela from a country whose professional orchestra employed no Venezuelans to a country where EVERY child has the right to study music with gifted teachers for as many years as they wish, to have an instrument to play, and the opportunity to play in musical groups of all sizes and talent. Now the country has several world-class orchestras of young people and even school children who are invited all over the world to play for sophisticated musical audiences and then treated to enthusiastic standing ovations and patrons shouting approval! These young musicians are proficient not only in all genres of European music, they are also proficient in Latin American music, both popular and classical. To hear and see (via YouTube) more than 200 talented young musicians all playing together enthusiastically and extremely articulately for a gifted conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, who is himself a product of El Sistema, is a grand testament to Abreu's dream and Venezuela's support for this transformative program.

GUSTAVO DUDAMEL, WHO IS THE CONDUCTOR FOR THE LOS ...

GUSTAVO DUDAMEL, WHO IS THE CONDUCTOR FOR THE LOS ANGELS PHILAMONIC IS EXTRAORDINARY AND THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH WORDS IS THE DICTIONARY TO DISCRIBE HIS TALENTS.

Musical competence to combat poverty and gangs

This is an informative and inspiring journey throught the development of El Sistema in Venezuela and the power that learning to play music with others has to motivate young people to become creative and caring members of society.

Gustavo Dudamel, the charismatic conductor with focused love of young people, has completely changed the environment of classical music not only in Los Angeles but all over the world. Don't miss this positive development in the world. It's a great antidote to network news of today!

Amazing!!

After reading Changing Lives, I began to learn about El Sistema here in Cleveland. I discovered three locations and have visited one of them - at the Rainey Institute. My chapter of Delta Omicron, International Music Fraternity, will be supporting this wonderful project with our donations.

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Title: The Blues: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Elijah Wald

Narrator: Dalton Mobley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 22 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Praised as "suave, soulful, ebullient" (Tom Waits) and "a meticulous researcher, a graceful writer, and a committed contrarian" (New York Times Book Review), Elijah Wald is one of the leading popular music critics of his generation. In The Blues, Wald surveys a genre at the heart of American culture.

It is not an easy thing to pin down. As Howlin' Wolf once described it, "When you ain't got no money and can't pay your house rent and can't buy you no food, you've damn sure got the blues." It has been defined by lyrical structure, or as a progression of chords, or as a set of practices reflecting West African "tonal and rhythmic approaches", using a five-note "blues scale". Wald sees blues less as a style than as a broad musical tradition within a constantly evolving pop culture. He traces its roots in work and praise songs, and shows how it was transformed by such professional performers as W. C. Handy, who first popularized the blues a century ago. He follows its evolution from Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith through Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix; identifies the impact of rural field recordings of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and others; explores the role of blues in the development of both country music and jazz; and looks at the popular rhythm and blues trends of the 1940s and 1950s, from the uptown West Coast style of T-Bone Walker to the "down home" Chicago sound of Muddy Waters. Wald brings the story up to the present, touching on the effects of blues on American poetry, and its connection to modern styles such as rap.

As with all of Oxford's Very Short Introductions, The Blues tells you - with insight, clarity, and wit - everything you need to know to understand this quintessentially American musical genre.

Members Reviews:

Great flow and golden nuggets!

Blues was always playing in my house for a long as I can remember. My father constantly talked about it and tried to impress it's importance on me. His lessons went mostly unheeded, or so I thought. This book was absolute fantastic in content, progression and style. The names presented were mostly familiar and I had a grand old time following along with youtube videos of the artists. The Narrator has the perfect voice. Low, cool and when he quotes lyrics, I got the chills. I'm hoping to find more of his narration.

After reading this book I have a new found appreciation and explosion of love for the blues!

Time will tell but this book may have chanced my life. It has certainly helped me see my father in a new, cooler, light!

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Excellent!

This is an excellent audio book. Not only does it trace the history of blues, but it also has a separate history of how blues and jazz are intertwined, and a section on how blues and country music are intertwined. Very well done. I will listen to this again at least once more. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn the history of the blues. Great narration too.

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Title: The Orchestra

Subtitle: A Very Short Introduction

Author: D. Kern Holoman

Narrator: Steve Baker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

In this Very Short Introduction, D. Kern Holoman considers the structure, roots, and day-to-day functioning of the modern philharmonic society. He explores topics ranging from the life of a musician in a modern orchestra, the recent wave of new hall construction from Berlin to Birmingham, threats of bankruptcies and strikes, and the eyebrow-raising salaries of conductors and general managers. At the heart of the book lies a troubling pair of questions: Can such a seemingly anachronistic organization long survive? Does the symphony matter in contemporary culture? Holoman responds to both with a resounding yes. He shows that the orchestra remains a potent political and social force, a cultural diplomat par excellence. It has adapted well to the digital revolution, and it continues to be seen as an essential element of civic pride. In a time of upheaval in how classical music is created, heard, distributed, and evaluated, the orchestra has managed to retain its historic role as a meeting place of intellectual currents, an ongoing forum for public enlightenment.

Members Reviews:

bias

It is not about the orchestra as world culture its about the orchestra as a an American art/ business phenomenon with what promises to be a bias to New York!

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Title: Early Music: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Thomas Forrest Kelly

Narrator: Alex Hyde-White

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

From Gregorian chant to Bach's Brandenburg Concerti, the music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods is both beautiful and intriguing, expanding our horizons as it nourishes our souls. In this Very Short Introduction, Thomas Forrest Kelly provides not only a compact overview of the music itself, but also a lively look at the many attempts over the last two centuries to revive it. Kelly shows that the early-music revival has long been grounded in the idea of spontaneity, of excitement, and of recapturing experiences otherwise lost to us--either the rediscovery of little-known repertories or the recovery of lost performing styles, with the conviction that, with the right performance, the music will come to life anew. Blending musical and social history, he shows how the Early Music movement in the 1960s took on political overtones, fueled by a rebellion against received wisdom and enforced conformity. Kelly also discusses ongoing debates about authenticity, the desirability of period instruments, and the relationship of mainstream opera companies and symphony orchestras to music that they often ignore, or play in modern fashion.

Members Reviews:

Not Bad At All, Probably Better in Print

On the whole, this is a good introduction to early music. It's not quite what I expected, however. I went into this with the definition of early music being limited to the Medieval and Renaissance eras, and while this book did encompass that, it also included Baroque. And that would be even better, save for the fact that most of the material herein was about the Baroque, and thus not the reason for me picking it up in the first place. Still, nothing wasted in that regard. The lessons can be applied all around. The ideas presented here regarding the recreation of early music are fascinating and complex. Once you wrap your head around it, it'll change the way you listen to and appreciate music of any kind. That alone makes this title worth it in my mind.

Anyone coming to this topic with no background and truly looking for an introduction should probably be aware that the information herein comes rapid fire. Vocabulary is defined, but once an idea is introduced, it's assumed you know it, and information is built from there. Newcomers will probably want a print version of this for that reason, and for the reason that the end of the book comes with a rather hefty list of bands, ensembles, and recording labels.

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Title: Scary Monsters and Super Freaks

Author: Mike Sager

Narrator: George Orlando

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-14-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Mike Sager is to drugs, porn, and crimes of desperate delusion what Dominic Dunne is to the society murder. In addition to his long-classic Rolling Stone story "The Devil and John Holmes" (which helped inspire the Val Kilmer film Wonderland) and his groundbreaking GQ piece about murdered Irish investigative reporter Veronica Guerin (also the subject of a major film starring Cate Blanchett), Scary Monsters and Super Freaks is a wonderful rogue's gallery of up-close pieces about the most public failures of the American dream. From Rick James and his drug-fueled detour into white slavery to the life and suicide of porn starlet Savannah, from deep inside the beating of Rodney King and the Heaven's Gate cult suicides to Chuck Berry's sexual predilections, this book brings to high-profile true crime a highly identifiable voice and style. Currently Esquire's Writer-at-Large, Sager takes us along for the ride with a raft of other figures including the late NWA Rapper Easy E. Winner, the FBI agent who fell in love with his informant, and the highest ranking DEA agent to be busted for drug trafficking. This is a brilliant debut collection by one of America's most respected and stylish crime writers.

Members Reviews:

Terribly misleading title.

First of all, if you're going to have a title like "Scary Monsters and Super Freaks", you'd better have some INCREDIBLE stories contained therein. There aren't any. Not one.

The "Super Freak" is a reference to Rick James. Ok... seriously?! I was expecting stories about all sorts of depraved, terrible individuals that committed unspeakable acts....and you give me RICK JAMES??!! That joke would ALMOST be funny, if i didn't value my time and money.

There are some good stories in here. Nothing great, and certainly nothing that lives up to that title. There's one about Rodney King which was interesting, and a few about cult figures, that I found noteworthy.

Overall, I feel incredibly misled by the title of this book. It takes every ounce of self control I have for me NOT to give this 3 stars. Based on the fact that the narrator is good, and some of the stories were actually memorable, I'm giving it 4. In truth, it's a 3.5. Had I not been misled so badly by the title, I'm sure my view of this book would've been more favorable.

George Orlando needs to invest in a dictionary!!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The stories were interesting yet I found them to be told in a one sided manner, however, the odd thing about it was that throughout nearly each piece the author would flip his sides/takes. Obviously, most stories aren't black and white, yet I found the author wasn't capable of writing in "grey"...perhaps the tone of the reader takes some of the blame?? He was awful, more on him later..

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I think they were all fairly interesting, some more annoying than others thanks to the readers attempt at various dialects...the Rodney King and Savannah stories for example, he gave me douche chills.

What didnt you like about George Orlandos performance?

Where do I start..I could be here all day, but instead I will simply state the most obvious and inexcusable, his butchering of pronunciation.

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Title: The Life and Works of Mozart

Author: Jeremy Siepmann

Narrator: Jeremy Siepmann, Nicholas Boulton, Edward de Souza, Teresa Gallagher, Elaine Claxton, Steve Hodson, Jacob Moriarty

Format: Original Recording

Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-16-12

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 29 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the most astonishing child prodigy in the history of music, is felt by many people to be the greatest composer who ever lived. Dominated and shaped by a highly intelligent but frustrated and ambitious father, his story sees the development of a unique genius, from precocious and often endearing childhood to liberated fulfillment, unexpected poverty, and a tragically early death. Generously illustrated by Mozarts music, from his fifth to his final year, this portrait-in-sound reveals a fascinating yet elusive character, drawing richly on the words of the composer himself and those who knew him. This is the ideal way to understand more about Mozart the man, and his music. Throughout his life, he wrote numerous letters - to his father and his friends and pupils - and his musical colleagues wrote about him. On this entertaining recording, with parts read by various actors, Mozart himself comes to life - with his sublime music ever-present as his career unfolds.

Members Reviews:

Mozart, oh Mozart

I love these series. I love hearing about the works and life, while hearing the works. However, I don't think enough of the famous ones were worked in here. Why not?

Fantastic

Tried to give it 5 stars in every category. Enjoyed it tremendously. Recommend it highly.

Mozart the man, Mozart the music in one audiobook

This is audio books at their best! It is a lively engaging biography beginning with played samples of the boy genius' work while he travelled Europe with his father and equally gifted sister. Then develops through his challenging young adulthood, composing and travelling in Italy and Germany and producing a wide variety of music, samples of which are well knitted into the story. And his short life ends in Vienna, still composing, as we hear, wonderful music. Audio truly at its best.

Good but could have been much better......

If you come to this recording knowing nothing about Mozart or, worse than that, you have been exposed to Mozart as the giggly idiot portrayed in the play and film "Amadeus", this worthy recording will give you the basic facts about Mozart, his true personality, his life, struggles and triumphs, in a straightforward chronological biography, with some lengthy musical examples. It will debunk the "giggly idiot" image whilst showing that Mozart did have an idiosyncratic and somewhat scatalogical sense of humour but this was allied to a profound perception of all facets of human life and psychology, based on acute powers of observation and empathy.Perceptions that his great genius enshrined in his sublime music and in the superb operas.

The recording is particularly good at exploring Mozart's very difficult relationship with Leopold, his intensely controlling father, teacher, mentor,whose influence he had to break away from to achieve his destiny. There are some engaging stories about Mozart in Paris, Mannheim,Ausberg and Vienna, mentioning many of the friends and performers he encountered plus a good account of his marriage to Constanze Weber. His key musical works are mentioned,some illustrated.

However, my principal criticism of this recording is that it needed either to be an hour longer, or the pace of the narrative needed to have been quicker.