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The Song of Names

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The Song of Names

By: Norman Lebrecht
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
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About this listen

Martin Simmond’s father tells him, “Never trust a musician when he speaks about love.” The advice comes too late. Martin already loves Dovidl Rapoport, an eerily gifted Polish violin prodigy whose parents left him in the Simmonds’s care before they perished in the Holocaust. For a time the two boys are closer than brothers. But on the day he is to make his official debut, Dovidl disappears. Only 40 years later does Martin get his first clue about what happened to him.

In this ravishing novel of music and suspense, Norman Lebrecht unravels the strands of love, envy and exploitation that knot geniuses to their admirers. In doing so he also evokes the fragile bubble of Jewish life in prewar London; the fearful carnival of the Blitz, and the gray new world that emerged from its ashes. Bristling with ideas, lambent with feeling, The Song of Names is a masterful work of the imagination.

©2002 Original material © 2002 Norman Lebrecht. (P)2010 (p) 2010 HighBridge Company Holocaust Middle East

Critic reviews

“A vivid and outstanding story that sings about artistry, genius, music, love, envy, friendship, and revenge.” ( Booklist)
All stars
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This was an unexpected title, bought on the daily special ,..forgotten and listened to “blind”.
A talented violinist and the lead protagonist are linked in a boyhood friendship that shapes their lives…and plays out in late adulthood. The action takes place in the period preceding II WW, the Blitz and to the present in London and the Midlands; there's a credible cast and plot with streams of classical music, judaism and w an unusual twist.

Credible and entertaining

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