Customer Reviews

Oscar Winners: The Lyrics Of Oscar Hammerstein II

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

 

 

I wonder what some of the reviewers on this page are reviewing, at least those who mention Wally Harper's orchestrations. This CD is orchestrated by Peter Matz and in my opinion is a misfire. It oughtn't to have been but when one considers that it contains seven songs with music by Rodgers, seven with music by Kern and one with music by Romberg - and that the songs that don't work are the R&H songs - and when one considers that Miss Cook's forte is the romantic ballad, the torch song and the bright and breezy up tempo number and that all the R&H songs are book songs, one is less in the dark as to the reasons why the seven R&H songs don't convince. The songs selected do not fit into the ballad/torch category and while most are up tempo, that tempo is too slow and the "sound" Matz creates seems to me, ordinary and uninteresting. Ms. Cook is at her best in I WON'T DANCE and the pairing of DON'T EVER LEAVE ME and ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE. Here are the three songs on the CD that are superbly thought out, sung and orchestrated. The rest are dreary and unconvincing. This is only one of two CDs by Ms. Cook that I don't care for (the other being her collection of "new" songs - AS OF TODAY - where the songs are all pretty poorly conceived and written - there the content does her in, not her valiant attempts to put them across). The rest of her work is uniformly fabulous.

I was lucky enough to first experience the contents of this album live at the Cafe Carlysle in New York. What a wonderful joy to have a keepsake of that night in this beautifully recorded version of the lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein in these classic songs. "This Nearly Was Mine" never fails to make me cry. Me, who never cries. What a gift is Barbara Cook. Long, long, long may she sing!

The arrangements by Wally Harper not only do justice to Barbara Cook's wonderful,but also enhance the pure poetry of Oscar Hammerstein.Definitely one of the best CD's Ms.Cook has done.Her style is a terrific counterpoint to a great lyricist's poetry.

Barbara Cook only gets better with time. I, too, saw her at the Cafe Carlyle, in what was probably the finest concert/cabaret performance I've ever seen. No one can sing these songs like she can, and the arrangements by the incredibly sensitive and talented Wally Harper are perfect. One can only hope that Barbara Cook lives forever, so that she can continue to top herself. No one else ever will!

P.S. I'm hoping her recent Carnegie Hall concert was taped for future release.

Barbara Cook is an amazing performer. If you've ever seen her in person (I have twice), you know how she has her audience totally engrossed in the songs she sings. This collection of Rodgers & Hammerstein standards is one of her best CD's, and its highlight is "This Nearly Was Mine" from "South Pacific," an absolutely mesmerizing interpretation. The arrangements on the CD are lush, but never overshadow Cook's beautiful soprano. She is one of a handful of performers championing and keeping alive the great American Songbook catalogue -- the songs of Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Rodgers and Hart, Loesser, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Harold Arlen, etc.

I kept putting off seeing Barbara Cook at the Carlyle over the years, but obviously I missed out. Wonderful voice, "I Won't Dance" is a Royal Flush. Ms. Cook sounds (to me, at least) strikingly similar to Barbra Streisand, but with more warmth. Hopefully, I'll catch Ms. Cook at Feinstein's this fall. I play this CD back to back with Julie Andrews and Rebecca Luker...si sic omnes.