Waterside Productions Announces Lou Marinoff's New Book "Fernando: Beethoven of the Guitar: Book II"

CARDIFF BY THE SEA, Calif. - June 28, 2021 - PRLog -- This romantic historical trilogy recreates the charmed life and turbulent times of Fernando Sor (1788-1839), a cheerful and charismatic child prodigy from Barcelona. A gypsy woman read his palm as a boy, and foretold wondrous achievements, all of which would come to pass.

A virtuoso composer, performer, and singer, as well as a devoted teacher, Fernando elevated the guitar from the taverns and street corners of Spain to the most prestigious concert halls and palaces of Europe. He was patronized by royalty, lionized by music-lovers, adored by women, and idolized by guitarists.

In Book II, Fernando and his childhood sweetheart Joaquina join tens of thousands of Spanish émigrés, supporters of enlightenment values who are persecuted and exiled by tyrannical King Ferdinand VII. They settle in Paris. In January 1815, Joaquina bears a beautiful daughter, Carolina, but tragically dies in childbirth. In March 1815, Napoleon escapes from Elba and precipitates the chaotic "100 days," culminating in his downfall at Waterloo.

The celebrated Italian composer Muzio Clementi invites Fernando to London, where he performs for London's most discerning audiences, including a command performance for the Royal Family. Princess Charlotte is so entranced that she becomes his student.  Joined by his brother Carlos, they found the thriving Sor Academy of Spanish Guitar. Adored by English music-lovers, Fernando composes for a plethora of genres, and continues to astound audiences with his concert repertoire for solo guitar.

Inspired to write ballets, he meets the gifted Parisienne ballerina Félicité Hullin. Fernando's ballets prove enormously popular, especially Cendrillon (Cinderella). When word of its acclaim in London and Paris reaches Tsar Alexander, he invites Félicité to be prima ballerina of the Bolshoi, and Fernando to be Composer for the Imperial Court. Félicité and Fernando are married in Paris in 1823, and embark on a triumphant Grand Tour of European performances en route to Russia.

Thus concludes Book Two of the trilogy.

This novel resuscitates the dry bones of history by adorning them with human flesh and blood; it animates otherwise bland facts with a pounding heartbeat and a surging pulse; it restores remote events to an all-embracing immediacy; it revivifies long-dead names with vibrant personalities and enduring passions. Fernando takes the reader on a political, artistic and romantic thrill-ride, seamlessly weaving history, biography, and musicology with inventive literary fiction.

Get your copy today: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954968256