Search - Berlin, Ellington, Poulenc, Piaf, Arlen Gershwin, soprano Rosa Lamoreaux, piano Betty Bullock :: Classical Cabaret

Solid Performances of Wonderful Songs

Timothy B. Mustaine | Wichita, KS United States | 02/20/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a lovely album of well chosen "classic" popular songs, mostly from the '30s, done in "art song" manner. All the biggies are represented--Gershwin, Rodgers/Hart, Arlen, Porter--and Lamoreaux and Bullock managed to include most of my personal favorites, along with a few lesser-knowns that maybe shouldn't be lesser known. Of course, including all the best songs of this sort would require many CDs, and I certainly wouldn't mind a few more recordings from this duo.The performances are straightforward and good. Miss Lamoreaux has a "pretty" voice, but doesn't lack for character, and Miss Bullock is a solid, sympathetic accompanistI would have given this CD 5 stars, but for two reasons. First, several of the tracks include minor flaws--missed notes in the accompaniment, tone "off" just for a moment--that could have been remedied with another take, and should have been. Second, good as these performances generally are, they suffer by comparison to the versions done by Joan Morris and Wm. Bolcom, who have recorded almost all of these songs, and usually done them even better. Alas, nearly all of the classic Morris/Bolcom recordings are out of print, and many of the best were never re-released on CD.Quibbles aside, though, this is an album that I play and enjoy over and over again. It isn't one of those "play once and then sell" CDs I dump at my local used-CD emporium. And that's the acid test, isn't it? Definitely recommended."