The Beethoven Obsession

by Brendan Ward

The Beethoven Obsession tells the story of how the greatest piano music ever written acquired a unique Australian voice, played on a revolutionary grand piano that shook up the conservative music establishment. It is a fast-paced drama of frustration, envy, rivalry, struggle and success, starring a self-taught child prodigy who sold condoms and contraband to advance his studies; a fanatical inventor who took apart pianos as a child to examine their ‘gizzards’; and a TV cameraman who became a music entrepreneur to translate the music he loved into an Australian first. Their unorthodox, historic odyssey created multi-award-winning, best-selling albums and changed their lives forever.

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2013

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in Beethoven or the piano's intricacies, this is a wonderful story.

It is an all-Australian story about how the author, Brendan Ward, was instrumental in the marriage of Gerard Willems with the Stuart piano. The only non-Australian participant is Beethoven.

And there is a story in each of the participants. How the Stuart piano came into being, how Gerard Willems became one of Australia's most notable pianists, how his recordings of the Beethoven Sonatas on the Stuart evolved, why recording the 32 sonatas are considered one of the pinnacles of achievement on the piano, how Willems was taught the piano by a direct line of descendants from Beethoven, and so on. Fascinating!!