In ‘The Genius of Beethoven’, Paul Rhys very accurately portrays the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, vividly conveying the loneliness and gloom Beethoven experienced throughout his life.
It is a very powerful and moving docudrama that includes insightful narration from Charles Hazlewood, a popular conductor, composer and presenter.
The film apprises us of facts about Beethoven such as the fact that he was the grandson of a musician of Flemish origin who was also named Ludwig van Beethoven, who was employed as a bass singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, rising to become a music director. His, Johann van Beethoven worked as a tenor in the same musical establishment, also giving lessons on piano and violin to supplement his income; he married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767; Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn, probably on 16 December 1770, and baptized the next day though there is no documentary evidence to support the same.
