A music critic for the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper has won the 2010 Tieto-Finlandia award, Finland’s top non-fiction prize, and EUR 30,000 to boot.
Vesa Sirén is his name and his book is called “Suomalaiset kapellimestarit, Sibeliuksesta Saloseen, Kajanuksesta Franckiin” (or, “Finnish Conductors: from Sibelius to Salonen, from Kajanus to Franck”).
As far as I can tell, there is no English-language edition yet available, though I’m sure it would be a bestseller in the U.S.
Sirén told his newspaper that he wrote the work “in the wee small hours of the night. As a rule, for two or three hours from the moment when I managed to get my child off to bed.” He also took a five month leave of absence, funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Among the tidbits in this 1,000 page tome: Sibelius had a good conducting technique “unless he was drunk.”
classical life 
Tim, you need to move to Finland! I wonder if there is an organization in the U.S. that would fund a classical music critic for a 5 months leave of absence. OK, I know that answer: nope!
Well, I think you deserve special notice and attention even if our country is not so good at supporting people in the finer arts.