{"product_id":"thomas-beecham-an-obsession-with-music","title":"Thomas Beecham: An Obsession with Music","description":"\u003cp\u003eThomas Beecham was one of Britains greatest conductors of orchestral music and opera as well as an entrepreneur and impresario of exceptional energy and brilliant wit. This new life places him - musically  politically and socially - in the troubled times in which he lived and corrects the stories and myths  many of them Beechams own making  that have grown up around this uniquely gifted and controversial figure.Drawing upon extensive research  Lucas presents new material on his early years  his complicated private life  his fathers catastrophic attempt to buy a large part of Covent Garden - which brought the family to its knees financially - and the orchestras and opera companies that Beecham founded. New light is shed on his visits to Nazi Germany and his view of its leaders  as well as the much misunderstood and previously unchronicled years of the Second World War  which he spent in Australia and America.Thomas Beecham: An Obsession with Music will change the way we view this complex personality and remain the standard biography for years to come.JOHN LUCAS was on the staff of the Observer for 25 years  completed Peter Heyworths monumental biography of Otto Klemperer  wrote the biography of Reginald Goodall  and is responsible for the current entries on Beecham and Klemperer in the New Grove.BEECHAM IN REHEARSAL: This book will include a full-length CD of Beecham rehearsing the RPO. It features music by Haydn  Mozart  Handel  Liszt and a remarkable movement from Beethovens 5th Symphony.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44960931872821,"sku":"ByrdShop_1843834022","price":62.93,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781843834021.jpg?v=1770394251","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/thomas-beecham-an-obsession-with-music","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}