Customer Reviews

Isn't It Romantic

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of my all time favorite romantic cds. Though I have most of Michael Feinstein's cds, this one remains my favorite. Full of beautiful, classic love songs, this cd delivers sentimentality without being sappy. You can tell by all of Mr. Feinstein's cds that he genuinely loves the songs of early hollywood and broadway and it is apparent, most definitely, in this cd. If you are in the mood for love with your special someone and want a little background music, you should give this one a try.

This Is The Cd That Made Me A Michael Feinstein Fan!! I Had Bought His Two Previous Cds And Liked Them Very Much, But The First Time I Heard "My Favorite Year" I Was Hooked!! I Was In Tears By The End Of The Song & A Life Long Fan!!! Johnny Mandel's Arrangements Are Stunning And So Romantic!! One Of Michael's Very Best!!!!

I may be wrong, but i think this is Michaels' finest cd yet. Let me try to explain why i think so. First off, he used Johnny Mandel to produce and arrange his music. Secondly, his material for this cd seems better than any other offering. Plus his voice appears as great as i have ever heard it. With all these plusis, i don't see how this project could not be his finest. I just wish Michael could turn out more quality work like this.

I WOULD LIKE TO STRONGLY, STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS CD

I received this 11 years ago when my first child was born. It is a wonderful alternative to traditional lullaby music. You could feel my daughter totally relax, while being rocked,danced or hummed to sleep. Unfortunately the cassette tape did not endure the endless playings( I now have 4 children)...so here I am ordering the CD. I am grateful it is still available. It has become a tradition!

I have enjoyed Michael Feinstein's recordings for many years. Isn't It Romantic is the absolute best - I never tire of it. It's just a great selection of terrific music, beautifully performed.

Michael Feinstein is a Romantic's Romantic! He's able to capture gut level emotion with his words, voice and piano. His song 'My Favorite Year' is one that will bring an Old Flame right back from the dead and have it blazing before your eyes once more! He's gentle yet powerful and there is a humble quality about his presentation that makes you just want to embrace him. Very easy to listen to, yet provocative.

"Creating this album of romantic songs has truly been a labor of love. I have never before experienced such unconditional dedication and commitment from so many different people, all working toward a single goal. Collaborating with Johnny Mandel is a dream come true. He is a genius, a tireless worker, a gentle soul and a lovable man. It has been a privilege to work with him. If you have the feeling that I had a ball doing this album, you're absolutely right!" ~ Michael Feinstein ~

This collaboration between Michael Feinstein and Johnny Mandel is one of the best-ever Feinstein recordings of all-time. Mr. Mandel, who is a brilliant composer/conductor/arranger and has done several film and television musical scores and known as one of the best Sinatra arrangers, did a superb job on the stunning arrangements. The Oscar-winning composer also produced this album and chose the best studio musicians in this project most notably one of my favorite pianists, Alan Broadbent.

Presented in this "labor of love" album is a dozen of songs interpreted in sheer beauty and perfection. Mr. Feinstein has always been very resourceful in compiling songs that he would record and his musical knowledge is simply amazing. All his liner notes have been so informative and give accurate details about the origins of each song. He collected some of the best works from Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Larry Hart, Sammy Fain, Harry Warren, Jerome Kern, Burton Lane, and the Bergmans, among others, to offer another remarkable album not only for his fans but also for everyone who enjoys fine music.

My top favorite from this collection is a sentimental gem of a song by Rodgers and Hammerstein, "No Other Love," a song I've been hearing from my parents' collection (versions from Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald) when I was growing up and so glad to hear a new charming version with fabulous arrangement. I totally embrace and welcome new interpretations of nostalgic songs that now give new significance to life in general. Some of the choice cuts are "Isn't It Romantic," a medley of "I Can Dream, Can't I"/ "I'll Be Seeing You," "A Fine Romance" and "Wasn't It Romantic," a uniquely beautiful version, which showed-off his creative style of singing and his ear-catching vocal artistry.

Mr. Feinstein is so privileged to be the first artist to record a meaningful song by Johnny Mandel/Alan and Marilyn Bergman "Where Do You Start?" It's a song that has the most poignant lyrics from this collection.

"Where do you start?
How do you separate the present from the past?
How do you deal with all the things
you thought would last, that didn't last?
With bits of memories scattered here and there
I look around and don't know where to start . . .

Which books are yours?
Which tapes and dreams belong to you and which are mine?
Our lives are tangled like the branches of a vine that intertwine
So many habits that we'll have to break
And yesterdays we'll have to take apart . . .

One day there'll be a song or something in the air again
To catch me by surprise and you'll be there again
A moment in what might have been
Where do you start?
Do you allow yourself a little time to cry?
Or do you close your eyes and kiss it all goodbye?
I guess you'll try. . .

And though I don't know where and don't know when
I'll find myself in love again
I promise there will always be
A little place no one will see
A tiny part deep in my heart
That stays in love with you."

You'll enjoy this CD. It's truly a labor of love.

This is one of my favorite of the Feinstein collection. Not only does he perform the title song beautifully, he follows up with "Wasn't It Romantic." It certainly was! He sets the mood for the game of romance with "I Won't Bring You Roses" but the accompaniment to this, "Time Heals Everything," spoke to me in a big way. Nick Clooney needs to hear "Wasn't It Romantic" so he can play it on his WSAI show in the early a.m. hours; says he likes Feinstein, but doesn't play enough of this fabulous performer's music. Romance is the game, and Feinstein is the master.

While this is not my favorite album in my collection, I keep coming back to "You're an Education", a song that Feinstein dug out of the vaults. He has a knack for finding great tunes that were either lost by time or simply forgotten.

This is a fantastic album. The theme is definitely romance and the first and last songs are perfect bookends for the content in between. Feinstein sings all the songs with perfect feeling and I really enjoyed the arrangements. The liner notes contain stories for each song and are very interesting (as they are for other Feinstein albums). My favorite song is "My Favorite Year" which Feinstein notes was written for the soundtrack of the movie of the same name but was not used.