Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
If there's a precious tone to Michael Feinstein's interpretations of the American songbook, it probably stems from a fervent dedication to preserving the original context of his material. This is, after all, a musician who spent many of his formative years in personal service to the late Ira Gershwin. This collection further underscores that commitment, with the lush sound of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (augmented by the piano trio of Alan Broadbent, who also provides all but one of the arrangements here) adding considerable dramatic resonance to Feinstein's performances.

While singers from Sinatra and Streisand to Fitzgerald and Bennett have imbued many of these songs with considerable dollops of jazz, blues, and their own strong personas, Feinstein mines melancholy jewels like "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year," "How Deep Is the Ocean," and "By Myself" for all their introspective emotion. "Somewhere" pays tribute to Bernstein with glorious, unabashed melodrama, while "Laura" (one of the most recorded songs of all time) gets recast in something approaching its original intent via an arrangement written for this recording by composer David Raksin. Feinstein himself penned the album's notes, paying careful tribute to each composer represented and noting that all were Jews, yet their music came to represent a richly American spectrum that included black and white and encompassed jazz, the theater, and even classics in its scope. There's a lesson herein, and one that spans more than mere history and musical archaeology. --Jerry McCulley

Tracks:

The Folks Who Live On The Hill
The Best Is Yet To Come
Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry
By Myself
Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year
Stormy Weather
Laura
On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)
Love Is Here To Stay
How Deep is The Ocean?
Somewhere
I Won't Send Roses

Amazon.com

If there's a precious tone to Michael Feinstein's interpretations of the American songbook, it probably stems from a fervent dedication to preserving the original context of his material. This is, after all, a musician who spent many of his formative years in personal service to the late Ira Gershwin. This collection further underscores that commitment, with the lush sound of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (augmented by the piano trio of Alan Broadbent, who also provides all but one of the arrangements here) adding considerable dramatic resonance to Feinstein's performances.

Customer Reviews:

Musical Wit in an Orchestral Setting.......2004-01-04

The one problem a record collector encounters when he has an album too many of one artist, is the tendency of the artist to sing the same songs in succeeding albums/settings. Feinstein, who I consider as the leading proponent in reviving the American Popular Song standards to its unfettered glory is backed by a philharmonic orchestra in this album with the musical direction of conductor Alan Broadbent. And yes, he sang some songs that were sung in sparse and acoustic settings in his previous albums. As usual, just like any cabaret singer who never really sings the same song twice (listen to the grand old dames of cabaret like Julie Wilson and Mabel Mercer), Feinstein delights in the varied ways he can see a song in different contexts. Having said that, I thought he was a bit overly cautious in exploring his rich bari-tenor (sorry for this oxymoron but that is the word to apply to his voice) in soaring the vocal lines of Kern's The Folks Who Live on the Hill. Other than that, he was at his wittiest and conversational (not to mention just plain beautiful) voice when singing I Won't Send Roses and he can revisit the Bernstein/Sondheim Somewhere without evoking the famous version of uber diva Barbra Streisand. If you like good crooning vocals in a grand and orchestral setting, this is the album to listen or give as a gift -- you/they won't regret it.

A Cabaret Singer Grows Up.......2003-03-14

"Extraordinary how potent cheap music is." -Noel Coward

Like Coward, Mr. Feinstein seems to understand the power of popular, romantic song when flung into the void of an apparently cold universe by an all too human, understated voice...I first heard Michael Feinstein sing and play the piano umpteen years ago in the mad, bad '80s. At that time, I found his choice of material from the great 20th Century American composers refreshing & interesting, his skills as a pianist were good, and his diction to be above average. Yet his voice at that time was a bit weak--there was too much bravura nonsense, too much vibrato and he may have been too young for some of the songs that he sang at the time.

Well, we've both matured, (I hope), and Mr. Feinstein has delivered a remarkably smooth, yet heartfelt performance on this album. I'm particularly impressed by his vocal smoothness and emotional restraint, especially on "Love is Here to Stay", "How Deep Is the Ocean", "Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year" & "I Won't Send Roses". Mr. Feinstein appears to really understand the depth of feeling that these words and music evoke in him and us. The vibrato is there when needed, but the ripeness of a mature singer is beginning to be heard on his recordings and the Israeli Philharmonic simply gives his singing wings. The only song that doesn't seem to fit is "Stormy Weather"--I kept hearing Lena Horne in my mind's ear, rather than a polished cabaret singer. I hope that Feinstein continues to grow in vocal power and subtlety as he does here. A lovely album for sophisticated romantics.

This cd is about average, it could have been better.......2002-08-18

First I would like to say i'm a Michael fan. I own all his catalog. Even though i'm a fan there are some things about this cd that I find in bad taste. Please let me explain!

I know it is hard to always be creative. There are just so many ideas to go around and then you have to start duplicating others. This is known as copying what others have done.

For this cd I felt like some of the arrangements were too long. For example, Laura as it was performed hear is a six minute song. It really should have been done in two minutes. I'm an engineer and I edited this version of Laura to run two minutes and it is just perfect. Sometimes less is really more. Also, I felt that some of the other songs didn't really have top notch arrangements attached to them. If the arrangements would have been better I whould have had no choice but to bring out the 5 star rating for this project.

To talk a little bit about the voice of Michael is my pleasure. His voice seems to be getting better with age. I have always liked Michael's voice and will continue to do so.

I will give this cd a favorable recommendation!

Fabulously Fantastic!.......2002-07-21

Feinstein has outdone himself with this collection!! He is in fine fettle with songs that only He can do justice! His interpretations and stylings are beyond compare and trust you will not be disappointed with this recording!! Feinstein is simply fabulously fantastic!

Michael has done it again.......2002-07-12

S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous.

If there is one thing you can say about Michael Feinstein it's that he knows how to put over a song. His new cd is absolutely magnificent, these are the only words to describe it.

Tracks:

Folks Who Live on the Hill
Best Is Yet to Come
Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry
By Myself
Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year
Stormy Weather
Laura
On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)
Love Is Here to Stay
How Deep Is the Ocean?
Somewhere
I Won't Send Roses

Music:

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Music