Very entertaining--relatively unknown accounts of a shocking moment from the life (or death) of one specific composer for each episode. When I say brief, I mean the longest episode is perhaps 9 minutes (they were thankfully not delayed or interrupted by ads). While the host's narrative style--Professor Dr. Robert Greenburg (a renowned composer in his own right) is a bit exaggerated, his enthusiasm and the stories are entertaining enough to carry the show.
The well-supported biographies are very entertaining--and yes, frequently shocking even by today's standards. There are sometimes detailed descriptions and sometimes graphic descriptions--often from first hand (called "Prime sources" by historians) accounts of the effects of syphlis, promiscious sex, drunkenness, prostitutes, sexual abuse of children, unrequited love, murder, torture, conspiracies, burials and post-mortem head removal (along with a grusome description of what happens to said head as quoted from the diaries of those who stole it, and more. Sometimes in their own words. All of this adds up to a much more personal--and fascinating account than what we usually find--and a lot packed into less than 10 minutes!
There are brief excepts from each composer's repertoire playing in the background, which gives a nice little taste of each subject's work--just enough to tantalize if one is interested in learning more. Also just enough to recognize the differences between each composer's style if you listen carefully, as the music plays as background to the host's narrative. There could be more photos, and there are no re-enactments, but these episodse are short enough that you can live with tjhese choices--which to be truthful, were probabluy budget driven. Given the very short length of each episode they stick with one "scandal" per show--a wise choice.
Overall, fascinating and short enough that the less than captivating presentation is tolerable. I rated it as high as I did for content, as I'd never heard many of these tidbits before--or they presented a new fact-based twist on what I had learned previously.
The well-supported biographies are very entertaining--and yes, frequently shocking even by today's standards. There are sometimes detailed descriptions and sometimes graphic descriptions--often from first hand (called "Prime sources" by historians) accounts of the effects of syphlis, promiscious sex, drunkenness, prostitutes, sexual abuse of children, unrequited love, murder, torture, conspiracies, burials and post-mortem head removal (along with a grusome description of what happens to said head as quoted from the diaries of those who stole it, and more. Sometimes in their own words. All of this adds up to a much more personal--and fascinating account than what we usually find--and a lot packed into less than 10 minutes!
There are brief excepts from each composer's repertoire playing in the background, which gives a nice little taste of each subject's work--just enough to tantalize if one is interested in learning more. Also just enough to recognize the differences between each composer's style if you listen carefully, as the music plays as background to the host's narrative. There could be more photos, and there are no re-enactments, but these episodse are short enough that you can live with tjhese choices--which to be truthful, were probabluy budget driven. Given the very short length of each episode they stick with one "scandal" per show--a wise choice.
Overall, fascinating and short enough that the less than captivating presentation is tolerable. I rated it as high as I did for content, as I'd never heard many of these tidbits before--or they presented a new fact-based twist on what I had learned previously.