For anyone who is aching to discover classical music, this comprehensive and accessible book is the ideal teacher. Writing in clear and highly entertaining prose, music expert, teacher, lecturer and famous author Fred Plotkin presents classical music in a way that respects both the reader and the art form. Profiling such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak in great depth along with many others, this book delves into a thousand years of music, and includes interviews with such important musicians as Emanuel Ax, Marilyn Horne and James Levine.

Author Biography

Fred Plotkin has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Opera News, and other publications. He lectures frequently at the Smithsonian Institution, the Juilliard School and Columbia University. He is the author of nine books, many of Italian topics. He lives in New York and Italy.