Recordings

Barbara Cook at the Met » Barbara Cook

Recording Details

Date: 2006-01-20
Type: Audio / Concert Cast
Language: English
Location: US / NY / New York
Lyrics: Irving Berlin (205), Dorothy Fields (99), Oscar Hammerstein II (226), Sheldon Harnick (75), Johnny Mercer (125), Stephen Sondheim (294), various (390)
Music: Harold Arlen (162), Irving Berlin (205), Jerry Bock (79), Cy Coleman (107), Richard Rodgers (377), Stephen Sondheim (294), various (390)
Conductor: Eric Stern (30)
Music Director: Eric Stern (30)
Producer: Hugh Fordin (111)
Liner Notes: Barbara Cook (82), Anthony Tommasini (2)
Performer: Barbara Cook (82), Josh Groban (5), Audra McDonald (37)
Added by: hitormiss

Recording Releases

Format: CD
Label: DRG 91497
Released: 2006-06-06
Barcode: 021471149722
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Added by: hitormiss
Tracks: 1. If They Could See Me Now
2. It's Not Where You Start
3. It Might As Well Be Spring
4. Wonderful Guy, A
5. I Had Myself A True Love
6. Another 100 People / So Many People
7. Gentleman Is A Dope, The
8. Them There Eyes
9. Sweet Dreams
10. Errol Flynn
11. Introduction Of Audra McDonald
12. When Did I Fall In Love - with Audra McDonald
13. Blue Skies - with Audra McDonald
14. Last Night When We Were Young
15. In Buddy's Eyes
16. Nashville Nightingale
17. Not While I'm Around
18. Introduction Of Josh Groban
19. Move On - with Josh Groban
20. This Nearly Was Mine
21. Not A Day Goes By / Losing My Mind
22. We'll Be Together Again

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Posted 2008-11-08 13:18:16:
Amazon.com: What's left for singers who already have Carnegie Hall under their belts? The Metropolitan Opera. Except it's not that easy for non-classical performers. On January 20, 2006, Barbara Cook--a Carnegie habitué, where she performed, for instance, her Sondheim tribute--became the first cabaret singer to perform at the Met as part of the house's regular season. It's a fitting choice: Cook, after all, is acknowledged as one of the very finest interpreters of the American Songbook. Backed simply by a quintet, the 78-year-old singer is at the top of her game, and even if her voice has lost its smooth luster, it's not about crystalline purity anymore, but about a woman filling every word and breath with decades of experience. She starts off with a tweaked version of Sweet Charity's "If They Could See Me Now" ("If they could see me now, that little gang of mine/Standing where Domingo sings with James Levine") then goes down an impeccable list of standards, most of which she's recorded before (but hey, it's gotta be classics at the Met). Cook is joined by two guests (Elaine Stritch was also at the show but isn't on the CD): Audra McDonald (sounding a little less smooth than usual on the solo "When Did I Fall in Love?" but recovering nicely for a duo with Cook on "Blue Skies") and Josh Groban (a lovely rendition of Sondheim's "Not While I'm Around" on his own, and another Sondheim piece, "Move On," with Cook). --Elisabeth Vincentelli > 2 Comments

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