The High Stakes World of Classical Music - an Editorial Review of "Descending Thirds"

Book Blurb:

In the high-stakes world of classical music, Alexandra von Triessen, a gifted but insecure pianist, navigates the cutthroat International Ketterling Piano Competition. Dazzled by the charming Sebastian D'Antonio, she finds herself drawn into a web of intrigue surrounding his enigmatic and estranged brother, Conrad. Just as Alexandra's star begins to rise, a shocking discovery sends her world crashing down, exposing secrets and lies that threaten to destroy everything she's worked for.

Descending Thirds is a gripping story of ambition, betrayal, and the blurred lines between artistry and integrity. This page-turner explores the sacrifices we make in pursuit of our dreams and the devastating consequences of hidden truths. With two shocking twists that will leave you reeling, this unforgettable novel will resonate with anyone who has ever dared to reach for greatness.

Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/AtfGNBy

Author Bio:

Nicole Conn – Writer/Director/Editor/Mother

Nicole Conn has been a pioneering filmmaker for over thirty years, best known for her Cult Classic, Claire of the Moon – soon to have it’s 35th Year Re-Release following it’s 10th and 20th year Re-Releases. Among her best-selling features, Elena Undone, A Perfect Ending, little man and More Beautiful for Having Been Broken. Conn has achieved worldwide industry recognition with her lesbian-themed films and is perhaps the best-known Writer/Director of women’s films in the world. Notably, Elena Undone holds the record for the longest kiss in cinematic history.

In another pioneering effort, Conn created Coming Out For Love, the first ever LGBTQ+ Dating Competion Show (ala the Bachelor). In her earlier career she was published by Simon Schuster with Angel Wings, Passion’s Shadow and She Walks in Beauty. She’s written novelizations for Elena Undone and Claire of the Moon.

It too her 25 years, but finally in 2025 – Descending Thirds will be published March 15t.h and is deeply personal like her films. She will also release Blue Love Dance – A CineRomance, a behind the scenes look at the making of her single favorite sequence of her career. Once again, breaking molds intercutting a love scene with dance and nature’s glorious sunset.

Editorial Review:

Title: Descending Thirds

Author: Nicole Conn

Rating: 4.3

"Descending Thirds" by Nicole Conn opens with a terrified twenty-five year-old woman, Alexandra Von Triessen, who is on a plane towards the International Ketterling Competition. She is a classical pianist and one of the top forty contestants who received a telegram that changed everything. The performance will determine whether she belongs and whether she survives the political, distasteful music world which is not only violent but also as physically demanding as any athletic challenge.

“Competition is not for the faint of heart,” Alexandra’s mother, Claire von Triessen, proclaimed when Alexandra shared the telegram. A blue blood from the English side of her DNA... She raised a skeptical eyebrow, even though it was clear that she was quite pleased."

Here, the reader learns Alexandra's mother in a single stroke. The telegram should be a moment of triumph instead, it becomes another surface on which her coldness reflects. She emerges as a woman who cannot resist the opportunity to diminish, her words always filled with skeptism. Here, the reader senses that Alexandra might not be competing simply for a prize, but for an existence outside her mother's shadow.

"As Claire watched her daughter walk away, the smile slipped from her face. She had never truly expected her daughter to rise to fame, always doubting she had the resilience for such a ruthless world... Claire couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction at her own ascent within the social sphere where she so effortlessly reigned."

This passage opens the mother's mind to the reader, disclosing a revelation that is quiet but devastating. The reader understands that her skepticism all along has been about control, not a mother's concern over her daughter. They also understand that Alexandra's win might not be something she gets to keep for herself, but a triumph that might birth a new era where mother and daughter are in competition, where the mother views her daughter's success as a challenge to her own identity and status.

"Suddenly Alexandra felt him, knew Conrad’s eyes were on her. They bore into the heat of her back, but she didn’t turn as she began dancing for him. The tempo turned slow and repetitive. She improvised a gently swaying pas seul, tenderly alluring for its minimalist sensualism."

The reader has already encountered Conrad, who unlike his brother Sebastian- Alexandra's boyfriend, sees Alexandra differently. Conrad has spent some time with Alexandra in his brother's absence, and an unspoken current has been flowing between them. The reader is trapped in the question of who Alexandra loves more, or better or truer,

a question that the novel refuses to answer easily. Here, they witness a love triangle forming, one where the next gesture or glance could break what none of them can afford to lose.

This is a novel that the reader closes understanding that music, for these characters, is not simply a gift but a burden they carry, the very thing that saves some, while destroying others. It doesn't rush the climax, rather, it unfolds slowly such that by the time everything is decided, the reader has lived in the waiting, the kind of waiting where everyone knows what is coming but no one will say it first. The reader is never told who to love or who to hate, instead, the book lets the characters' choices unfold without any authorial rescue. Notably, the novel seems to understand that the setting holds what people cannot say, and thus treats it not as a mere background but as a character in its own right.

"Descending Thirds" greatest testament to its characters' development is that by the time the last page turns, the reader does not ask what happened, rather, they ask what they could have done differently. Conn asks and leaves the reader to answer, and as a result, creates a story that continues to linger in them long after the final page. This is a book for readers who understand that gift or talent doesn't exempt anyone from ruin. It will resonate especially with those who have loved someone they couldn't keep, as well as those who may have at one point chosen loyalty over honesty.

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