25. John Suchet OBE on 'In Search of Beethoven: A Personal Journey'

John Suchet OBE is a well-loved radio and TV presenter, author, and journalist. For thirty years he was known primarily as a reporter and newscaster for ITN, covering major world events including the Philippines Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 2008, the Royal Television Society awarded him with their highest accolade, the Lifetime Achievement Award. After leaving TV news John fell headfirst into a second career, in which he has been able to indulge his lifelong passion for music (Beethoven in particular). He presented Classic FM’s flagship morning show for around a decade, later moving to The Classic FM Concert, and he still returns to present special series to this day.

John’s eighth book on Beethoven is out tomorrow via Elliot and Thompson. Titled In Search of Beethoven: A Personal Journey, it is quite unlike his others so far in that it combines the lives of both Beethoven and John himself; in a book that is part biography, part memoir, and part travelogue.

In this episode, John talks about… well, Beethoven, but also why the process of writing this book was different to his others; and the nature of evolving scholarship meaning that things we’ve known to be true for years can suddenly turn out to be incorrect. John also talks about the tricky juxtaposition of his love and admiration for Beethoven ‘the artist’ with his difficult feelings about Beethoven ‘the man’. Away from Beethoven, John shares how the pinnacle of his news career happened due to – in his words – sheer luck, and also the story of the time that same high-flying news career imploded on him.

-------------------

John's links:

Website

-------------------

Follow The Classical Circuit on Instagram

Did you enjoy this episode? If so, ratings and follows help a lot with visibility, if you have a spare moment... *bats eyelashes*

No offence taken if not.

--------------------

Music: François Couperin - Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou Les Maillotins

Performed by Daniel Lebhardt

--------------------

This podcast is also available to listen to via The Violin Channel

--------------------

The Classical Circuit is made by Ella Lee (producer by trade, pianist at heart).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.