John Suchet - In Search of Beethoven
Held on Wednesday 19 February 2025
At Kent House Knightsbridge, London
“What an amazing and passionate talk!” - LS
“I had such a wonderful evening last night at John Suchet's talk and everyone was so amazingly friendly - thank you!” - AAS
“A huge thank you for last night. You were so welcoming and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. John is an amazing speaker and hearing his Beethoven talk for the second time was even better than the first!" - JBB
John Suchet
In Search of Beethoven
From the bestselling author of Beethoven: The Man Revealed, In Search of Beethoven is John Suchet’s latest and most personal book dedicated to the life of this extraordinary composer. Part biography, part memoir, part travelogue, Suchet draws on his own life and career as a foreign correspondent and news anchor to show how Beethoven’s music has accompanied him through the best and worst of times.
In this novel and 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 demonstrate the life-changing power of great music.
In Search of Beethoven
"This is a wonderful tale of self-realisation, of what we can gain from turning to genius in life's many crises.". NORMAN LEBRECHT
Beethoven has been John Suchet’s abiding passion throughout his life. Now the author, journalist, radio and TV presenter has produced a part biography, part memoir and part travelogue describing how Beethoven has travelled with him throughout the ups and downs of a life as a foreign correspondent and as an afficionado of the troubled composer’s remarkable life and music.
John Suchet OBE was the voice of morning radio on Classic FM for almost a decade and before that was one of the UK’s best known television journalists and newscasters presenting ITN’s 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 as well as biographies of Mozart, Strauss, Verdi and Tchaikovsky.
In Search of Beethoven sees the composer brought vividly and sometimes painfully to life. From his early years in Bonn to his dying days in Vienna, Suchet uses his own life experiences not least as a journalist entering Beirut in the midst of civil war to demonstrate the life-changing power of great music.
