Beethoven

This series about the life of the extraordinary composer Ludwig Van Beethoven was just beautiful, not to mention informative. Charles Hazelwood taught me a lot about the composer, and consequently along with Eroica from two years previous, this was such a compelling watch. The series is exquisitely filmed, and a fantastic script helped enormously. The music featured was a joy, particularly the phenomenal Ode To Joy from the Choral Symphony. While long, The Choral Symphony is one of those works that draws you right in, from the sheer power of the orchestration alone. The dramatisations were very fine, but what made the series was Beethoven himself, brought to life by an outstanding Paul Rhys, who captured Beethoven's problems like his deafness and alcoholism to perfection. All in all, a truly wonderful series. 10/10 Bethany Cox