Customer Reviews

My Funny Valentine - Frederica Von Stade Sings Rodgers & Hart

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Contained in this CD are some of the most beautiful versions of the great timeless songs of Rogers and Hart. Coductor John McGlinn's orchestrations are flawless, as are Frederica's vocals. My favorites are 'I Didn't Know What Time It Was', 'My Funny Valentine', 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered', 'Atlantic Blues' and 'A Ship Without a Sail'. Every song is well done and everyone I have turned on to this album loves it.

A wonderful record !! Mrs. Von Stade's voice is perfect. I also raccomend this recond because all the arrengments are recreations from the original shows.

Von Stade is in very fine voice on this CD, and her rendition of "My Funny Valentine" is one of the best ever, with a rich, expressive delivery. Her voice has sometimes been considered too operatic for pop material but on this she's just right. Other standouts are "Moon Of My Delight" and the playful "To Keep My Love Alive" but the whole album is solid.

Frederica von Stade and John McGlinn give us an extraordinary recording of Rodgers & Hart classics.

Frederica von Stade turns in first-rate performances on all these songs, imbuing "My Funny Valentine" and its gently sardonic lyrics with genuine romanticism.

The real gems of the collection are "I Didn't Know What Time it Was," "Where or When," and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered."

"I Didn't Know What Time It Was" is simply enchanting. Von Stade's interpretation of the introductory verse oozes innocent sexuality. Her treatment of the song's body is magical.

"Where or When" is entrancing, indeed haunting.

And von Stade's exuberant performance of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" is truly stunning. It's unquestionably the finest that I have heard -- anywhere.

The song's original lyrics present an unabashed celebration of feminine sexuality. Far too explicit for Hollywood, the lyrics were cleaned up for the 1957 movie "Pal Joey." Most recorded covers of the song are similarly bowdlerized, to eliminate its blatant sexual allusions.

Frederica von Stade's rendition not only is true the original's celebration of women's sexuality, she delivers the song's words with a disarming and utterly believable enthusiasm. "I'm vexed again, perplexed again, thank God I can be oversexed again . . . "

Thank God for Von Stade's interpretation of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered." It is truly a masterpiece.

Eric Alan Isaacson

I have only one objection to this album. She sings only 2 choruses of "To Keep My Love Alive" while the orchestra keeps playing the music over and over. A lyric like that, and they play just the music! There was plenty of time to put the whole lyric in. "If I Were You" (an imitated idea, most notably to my mind by Adams & Strouse in "All American") is a knock-out, and on this one she sings both verses (there is only one chorus). Highly recommended (if you can find it) anyway. "To Keep..." can be heard in it's entirety on other recordings, like on the revival cast recording of "Connecticut Yankee" by Vivienne Segal (on 2 releases!). Now if someone would just record the complete lyrics of "Mt. Greenery" and "Manhattan" - for a change!

This is a collection of Rodgers and Hart songs (some very obscure) sung to their original arrangements by Frederica Von Stade. John McGlinn, the conductor, is known for his faithful recreations of early musical theater work. Unfortunately, Frederica Von Stade doesn't have much of a feeling for the songstack. While she was wonderful on an earlier recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'The Sound of Music', she seems uncomfortable with Rodgers and Hart. To hear this sort of thing done well, listen to McGlinn's Jerome Kern collection with Kiri Te Kanawa.

I also thought some of the tempos were simply too slow, especially the title song.

The most worthwhile part of the album is the rediscovery of virtually unrecorded Rodgers and Hart. 'Everybody Loves You (When You're Asleep)' is a gem I haven't heard since Ben Bagley's Painted Smiles records of the sixties, seventies, and eighties. Side note, WHEN ARE THESE GOING TO BE RELEASED ON CD?

Anyhoo, this is what I would have like to know before buying the album. Oh yes, I forgot, the seller's service was stellar.

The gorgeous classical voice of Frederica unfortunately does not serve the comedy songs of Rogers & Hart. Her delivery is that of an opera star, so the brilliant wit of a song like 'To keep My Love Alive' is overdone and falls flat. This material is in need of a musical comedy performer. Frederica Von Stade is not that kind of performer.