ANNA KARENINA

Tolstoy’s great novel portrays a tragic love affair against a backdrop of nineteenth-century Russian high society and country life. Kate Lock’s treatment shows impressive range and facility, at times achieving remarkable power and poignancy. She skillfully provides a wide variety of voices—often indicating men just by changing intonation and pitch—and manages to convey Anna’s loveliness by voice alone, giving her a kind of bell-like throatiness. Unfortunately, some of her male voices—indicated by roughening or straining her voice—are unconvincing. But any flaws are swallowed up by the magnitude of the work—Tolstoy’s and hers—and by her predominant talent and deft touch. W.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]