Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
#1Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 10:42pm
Barbara Cook Lovers--
I have recently rekindled my love for the first great soprano on Broadway. While I already own The Music Man, Follies (in concert), She Loves Me, and her recent Live at The Met recording...I was wondering what other recordings are a "must" of hers. I was thinking of buying Showboat, but not sure. Basically I'm wondering what her greatest recordings are in addition to the ones I have! Thanks!
Braniff Forever
Featured Actor Joined: 6/27/15
#2Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 10:50pm
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.
#3Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 10:55pm
Her 'Losing My Mind' is fantastic, though I think Marin Mazzie's version might tie for the greatest! The Live at The Met concert is wonderful...she sings Irving Berlin's 'Blue Skies' with Audra McDonald and it's remarkable. Yes I'm very interested in other albums I should own of hers...cast recordings or otherwise! :)
#4Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 10:56pm
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#5Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 10:59pm
Ohhhhhhhh great recommendations, GavestonPS. Thank you! I have one cast album of Candide(because it was the only one my library had...) but I should probably just bite the bullet and buy the original! Will definitely look into your other suggestions...thanks!
#6Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 11:07pm
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.
#7Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 11:21pm
Do you have an hour, for Barbara Cook at the height of her powers?
#9Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 11:27pm
Well I didn't have an hour...but now I have to watch this. Goodbye, productivity! Thank you SO much for posting this...she is killing it.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#10Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 11:37pm
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.
#11Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/10/15 at 11:57pm
Adding the Disney album to my wish-list absolutely! I listened to some of her Julie Jordan and it's wonderful. I somehow found some really high-quality recordings of Kelli O' Hara's Julie Jordan from the recent concert and I must say it is hard to beat that. Will listen to Barbara's version fully though...thank you for the recs! :)
#12Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 12:01am
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.
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated
#13Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 12:04am
Adding The Gay Life to the list. I love the sound of it already...thanks! :)
broadwayboy223
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/2/14
#14Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 12:32am
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.
#15Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 12:38am
I'm sad I didn't see this conversation sooner! Basically everything Barbara Cook has ever recorded is a true gem. Of her cast recordings: Candide, The Music Man, Show Boat, The Gay Life, She Loves Me, The King and I, The Grass Harp and Sondheim on Sondheim are all awesome. Her live albums are also terrific: Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall, It's Better With a Band and Barbara Cook Sings Mostly Sondheim are my favorite of hers. Among her studio albums, I love: Barbara Cook Sings From the Heart, Close as Pages in a Book and All I Ask of You. I love Barbara Cook.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
The Other One
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/08
#16Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 12:44am
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.
jo
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#17Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 4:12am
Glorious singing from Barbara Cook and Michael Ball at the Royal Variety Show in 1997 -- PEOPLE WILL SAY WE'RE IN LOVE!
#18Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 5:33am
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
#19Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 9:13am
Thank you, everyone! I am in Barbara Cook overload and I wouldn't want to spend my Friday any other way. :)
Harriet Craig
Stand-by Joined: 7/15/15
#20Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 6:12pm
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".
#21Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 7:15pm
I have listened to her 1975 Live at Carnegie Hall a skillion times. The last few bars of "Ice Cream" always give me chills (no pun).
#22Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 7:33pm
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.
wolfwriter2
Stand-by Joined: 4/20/15
#23Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/11/15 at 8:35pm
Picking a favorite Barbara Cook album is like choosing my favorite of my dogs, but Mostly Sondheim and Candide are up there. The Disney album is wonderful, as is her Met concert with Audra and Josh Groban.
The mention of "Errol Flynn" made me recall, that when I first discovered the song, I would play it over and over, like a fool. I'm sure it has something to do with my father.
Does anyone know, if Ms. Cook has retired? Her website doesn't list any upcoming performances and the review I read of her last performance in Massachusetts, was, sadly, not very flattering.
The Other One
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/08
#24Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/12/15 at 1:28am
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.
wolfwriter2
Stand-by Joined: 4/20/15
#25Barbara Cook
Posted: 9/12/15 at 9:01am
I feared the worst, as well, but was happy to see so many people's admiration for her work. Her legacy does, indeed, speak for itself.
I last saw her about a year ago at Kean University in NJ. She did lose her place and forget some things and tended to ramble a bit, but, when she sang, that all went away. The voice was still there and was as lovely as ever. I'm selfishly hoping to see & hear her, live, again, but, prefer that she takes care of herself and stays well and healthy.
This thread has made me think, it's going to be an all Barbara Cook Saturday :)
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