Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers And Hammerstein

1	It's a Grand Night for Singing
2	If I Loved You
3	The Gentleman Is a Dope
4	It Might as Well Be Spring
5	Out of My Dreams
6	So Far
7	Something Wonderful
8	I Haven't Got a Worry in the World
9	Mister Snow
10	Some Enchanted Evening
11	There Is Nothin' Like a Dame
12	You'll Never Walk Alone
13	Something Good

Barnes & Noble

Given the right singer -- and, when it comes to Broadway classics, Bernadette Peters is as right as they get -- you can’t go wrong with a collection concentrating on Rodgers and Hammerstein songs. Although there are a handful of delightful oddities here, Loves concentrates mainly on tried-and-true gems from the R&H oeuvre, including “Some Enchanted Evening,” “It Might as Well Be Spring,” “If I Loved You,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” songs that simply refuse to grow old. Supported by the just-right orchestrations of the acclaimed Jonathan Tunik, Peters sounds strong, sure, and affecting. Gorgeous songs, beautifully sung -- what a combination! William Pearl

All Music Guide

Bernadette Peters marks the Richard Rodgers centennial with this collection of songs, all but one of which were written with Rodgers' second major lyric partner, Oscar Hammerstein II. (The exception is the album-closing "Something Good," written for the film adaptation of The Sound of Music, for which Rodgers wrote his own lyrics since Hammerstein had died.) The song selection combines some of the songwriting team's biggest hits, "If You Loved Me" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel, "It Might as Well Be Spring" from State Fair, "So Far" from Allegro, and "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific, with some lesser known compositions. Peters takes delight in digging up worthy songs that have not gotten much exposure, such as "I Haven't Got a Worry in the World," written for Anita Loos' successful 1946 play Happy Birthday, which Rodgers & Hammerstein produced. She also looks for ways to recast songs that are well known. For example, in selecting from South Pacific, she ignores the songs you might have expected her to sing, "A Wonderful Guy" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair," and instead takes on two songs not sung by the show's female lead, "Some Enchanted Evening," which is the big ballad number for the male lead, and, even more unusual, "There Is Nothin' Like a Dame," a song written for a chorus of bawdy sailors. Singing in the second person, she makes the latter a tribute to female superiority. Although Peters is an accomplished Broadway star, this is very much a song album; arranger Jonathan Tunick creates calm, understated settings, and Peters sings in a conversational manner. The album might have benefited from having more contrasting moods, but it makes for a warm, inviting celebration of its composer's 100th birthday. William Ruhlmann

Billboard

On this collection of gems and would-be gems, Peters is respectful of the legenadry composers but confident enough to make her own mark...Delicious.