Experience behind-the-scenes stories and performances of forty classical works, from grand halls to coal mines.

Award-winning writer and musician Thomas Wolf is the perfect guide for an entertaining journey through some spectacular masterpieces of classical music. The author, along with members of five generations of his remarkable musical family, and many of their distinguished colleagues, performed these pieces at the conclusion of their concerts. Audiences would applaud, stamp their feet, and cry "Bravo, Encore!" and the musicians would be prepared with a few more musical treasures.

Wolf takes us backstage both in famous concert halls and in more unusual venues--palaces, factories, and even ships. We go behind the scenes, accompanying family members on their musical journeys, and experiencing the reality of life on the road. We meet astonishing and often odd-ball colleagues, and relive the exhilaration, the comedy, and sometimes the sorrow of the musicians' lives. Wolf shines a light upon their unique world, and allows us to see them performing in such disparate places as the stage of New York's Carnegie Hall and, a mile underground, in a coal mine in Soviet Russia.

We are also admitted to family-only performances that took place in the homes of this extraordinarily accomplished family. In the intimacy of their gatherings, we delight in the wisdom and joy of their music and their storied lives. And we eavesdrop as they recount events and describe the music with humor and insight, touching on friendship, love, work, teaching, career, the immigrant experience, and family strife. All forty of the musical works under discussion are linked to carefully curated performances that can be found on both YouTube and Spotify, allowing readers to move seamlessly from the narratives, delightful in themselves, to the music. The book also contains unique historical photographs and references to further information about the composers, performers, and other distinguished characters who appear along the way.