THE SECRET CHORD

Narrator Paul Boehmer delivers a superb performance of Geraldine Brooks’s reimagining of the life of King David. Boehmer’s characters live through his vocal magic. He creates David, his sons, his wives, his enemies, and Natan, the narrator of the tale. A prophecy foretells that David, the shepherd boy, is destined to be king of the Jews. Once David defeats Goliath, his star begins to rise. He’s a fierce soldier, a natural leader who is capable of Old Testament-worthy vindictiveness and uncontrollable rage, yet his music transfixes all who hear it. Boehmer captures every nuance as David overindulges his baseness and carnality. Further, Boehmer's Hebrew pronunciations are splendid. Brooks offers a larger-than-life portrait of a charismatic David who was human yet capable of horrible deeds, and Boehmer captures all those qualities. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2015]