Search - Barbara Cook :: All I Ask of You

Consistently splendid work from the marvelous Miss Cook

Michael T. Pierce | 04/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Barbara Cook's singing is one of the great wonders of the world of music. This CD is another stellar addition to her very impressive body of work in the `90's. She also chooses her partners better than any other singer - the arrangements and orchestrations by Wally Harper and Peter Matz are just perfect for her and for the songs. It's hard to pick a favorite - All I Ask of You is beautiful, Wonderful Guy is delightful, the She Loves Me medley is marvelous anew after all these years, I Wonder What Became of Me is poignant but not maudlin, and We'll Be Together Again is entrancingly lovely. I also love the combination of New Sun in the Sky and On A Clear Day - my only quibble is that the orchestration is better suited for a live performance. (It is stunning when done live). Overall, another disc that I will listen to repeatedly and enjoy and enjoy. Barbara Cook never gives us less than her best, and at 71 her best is still THE best. What a treasure...."

All I Ask of You........is to keep singing, Barbara.

Michael T. Pierce | Kinnelon, NJ United States | 06/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In her Carnegie Hall concert of November, 1998, Miss Barbara Cook sang a medley of songs from "She Loves Me," a musical in which she starred on Broadway in the early '60's. I wished she would rerecord these beautiful songs. There was so much more depth and maturity in her singing nearly 40 years later. Soon thereafter, DRG released "All I Ask of You," which did indeed include these gems. In fact, many of the songs on this cd are also on her Carnegie Hall album of 1975. Listen to the differences in "Glad Rag Doll" and the songs from "She Loves Me." Her handling of the high "b" at the end of "Ice Cream" is more focused and precise than ever before. And the way she wraps her lovely soprano around the last note in both "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Somewhere" is worth the price of the CD. This chanteuse knows how to interpret both ballads and uptempo numbers with equal effect. The fact that she knows how to choose a musical director (Wally Harper) doesn't hurt either. Not bad for a lady in her 70's."