A shadow of unease; a quickening pulse; an unnamed fear breathing on the collar of those who sit alone in their dressing rooms at the great Paris Opera. An unbearable compulsion to glance quickly over a shoulder in the dark corridors to the stage would sometimes reveal a figure in evening clothes moving softly in the shadows—a figure no one could name. Nothing is done, however, until the disappearance of Christine Daaé during her triumphant performance. With an increasing pattern of fear and violence, the Phantom of the Opera begins to strike but always with a beautiful young performer at the center of his deadly desires.
Geoffrey Howard reads this early twentieth-century melodrama in a British accent that sounds slightly foreign; it's a bit distracting at first but ultimately gives the story the Continental mood it calls for. He shines at moving the story briskly, effortlessly keeping it involving, even through its pulpy excesses and sillier excursions, such as some comic relief involving the opera's managers. Howard falls short only by holding back in rendering some of the Phantom's more extreme behaviors--mad laughter and other scene-chewing (though he conveys fully his love-sick last extremity). Perhaps his restraint is wise; his ability to make such a wild purple tale not seem ridiculous is an accomplishment. W.M. 2006 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
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