Barbara Cook

I'll be interested too when somebody has the answer to your question. I love her "Losing my mind" in FOLLIES IN CONCERT. I'll have to look for her Met Concert.

Barbara Cook can do no wrong in my book and seeing her in concert a decade ago was like attending a master class.

For Broadway, the OBC of CANDIDE is a must. Nobody has ever come near her original "Glitter and Be Gay". (Of course, it was written for her.) Not even opera singers find the same delicacy and precision of Cook's high notes. (You also get Robert Rounseville in the title role, so well worth the price even if you have later versions.)

Also a must is the OBC of SHE LOVES ME. Again, as much as I love Diane Frantantoni on the Roundabout revival, there is nothing like Cook's "Ice Cream" (which she was still singing 10 years ago, BTW), "Will He Like Me" and the title song. (ETA Sorry. You said you had this. I'm leaving the paragraph here because it completes my thinking on the subject.)

If you like SHOW BOAT (And what the hell is wrong with you, if you don't?), the 1962 studio version has Cook PLUS John Raitt as Ravenal. So there's that.

Other OBC recordings worth having: PLAIN AND FANCY (Cook in a supporting role), THE GAY LIFE (lead in a latter-day operetta), and THE GRASS HARP (a lovely score that features a number of fine singers, including Russ Thacker, Carol Brice and Karen Morrow). I've never been able to get into FLAHOOLEY, her Bway debut, but not because of any fault in her singing.

As for solo albums, she has released dozens with nary a clunker in the batch, IMO. But I would put in a special word for her Disney album. I'm not even a big Disney fan, but that's one of the CDs I would pack if banished to a desert isle.

Updated On: 9/10/15 at 10:56 PM

You're welcome. The funny thing is, despite appearances in this thread, I'm not a big fan of legit sopranos. But Cook is the exception that breaks the rule for me. Perhaps because she is never shrill or screechy.

What a treat, joey! Thank you so much for that!

A second recommendation of the Disney CD, it is a magnificent breath of fresh air, her BABY MINE is a classic. But my suggestion is just save your pennies and go out and buy any recording she is on.

She has a Julie Jordan, CAROUSEL also.

THE GAY LIFE as Gaveston mentions is a must. One of the lushest scores ever to hit Broadway and Cook slays her several big solos. Walter Chiari can be a tad grating but overall it's a marvelous album.

Also as Galveston says THE GRASS HARP is another gorgeous score with great turns by Cook as well as powerhouse Karen Morrow.

I recently got a copy of Barbara in a different version of the Secret Garden. Quality wise the score isnt as good as Lucy Simon's but it has a few nice tunes and Cook's gorgeous voice.

You can't go wrong with her, you really can't, but I would recommend the Music Theater of Lincoln Center recording of "Show Boat" rather than the earlier studio recording she did. It is as good a recording of "Show Boat" as any.

That concert Pal Joey linked is from a wonderful era in her career, and the album from the same time period, "It's Better With A Band", is a wonderful gem, too.

If you can put your hands on it, there is a magnificent King and I concert with Barbara broadcast by BBC in 1996. She was a superb Anna

For anyone who can't afford to buy all the OBC recordings, there's a nice compilation disc on Koch called "Barbara Cook: The Broadway Years" that includes one or two (or three) songs each from Flahooley, Plain and Fancy, Candide ("Glitter and Be Gay", of course), The Music Man, The Gay Life, The King and I, etc.

Other personal favorites (besides the Disney album, which has already been mentioned) include:

Close as Pages in a Book (lyrics by Dorothy Fields)

Barbara Cook Sings Mostly Sondheim (a two-disc set, recorded live at Carnegie Hall, with Malcolm Gets). Includes both songs by Sondheim, and songs he has said he wishes he had written. Would be worth it if only for Barbara's rendition of "Hard Hearted Hannah".

Live from London (recorded live at Sadler's Wells in 1994). I don't always agree with Barbara's taste in new songs, but I love her performance of Amanda McBroom's "Errol Flynn".

Harriet Craig said: "Live from London (recorded live at Sadler's Wells in 1994). I don't always agree with Barbara's taste in new songs, but I love her performance of Amanda McBroom's "Errol Flynn".

Yes! Live from London is one of my favorites. Not only "Errol Flynn". Pretty much the entire set list is exquisite.

When I first saw a thread dedicated to her, I assumed the worst. In fairness, she sang and performed well right into her 80s, and it was only in her last year or so of giving concerts that the reports were less than glowing.

Perhaps she has retired, perhaps that time has come. Her legacy speaks for itself.