The Lion’s Way

By Lewis Orde

Daniel Kirschbaum understands he has a heavenly voice –

as he often jokes, God looked down on a fat kid in the Bronx and said, you my boy will sing like an angel. He uses that voice in every way possible, first as a boy soprano in the school choir, singing at dances in gangster-owned Catskills hotels, on radio, in Harlem jazz clubs, and as a cantor in a prestigious synagogue. But it is not until World War II, after a German buzz bomb lands Daniel in an English hospital, that he comes to realise just how that magnificent voice should best be used.

Told with warmth and perception, The Lion’s Way is the passionate tale of a gifted man who makes his way from 1920s New York through the Depression to wartime London, and eventually to the prominence of a world-acclaimed artist appearing on the stages of La Scala, Covent Garden, and Carnegie Hall. Although the triumphs are all too often tempered by bitter reverses, each time Daniel comes back stronger than before, intent on seeing a glorious career through to its final production.