Barnes & Noble
Julie Andrews's recorded legacy happily experienced a September renaissance in
the mid-'90s, just a few years before unsuccessful throat surgery stilled the
legendary voice of one of musical theater's most beloved stars. Classic Julie,
Classic Broadway brings together the best of these valedictory
performances, recorded for Philips Classics. Andrews's trademark purity of
tone, impeccable diction, and stunning range and control are gorgeously intact
on such perfect-for-Julie gems as "On a Clear Day," "My Funny Valentine," "If
I Loved You," "Bewitched," and "Hello, Young Lovers." Andrews's final Broadway
opus, Victor/Victoria, is well represented with the ballads "Living in the
Shadows" and "Crazy World." The highlights, though, are two extended medleys
from Andrews's own career-defining megahits, Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady and
Camelot, that display the singing actress in superb form. Classic Julie is a
fitting, and moving, tribute to a lady whose taste and excellence will
continue to be an inspiration to generations of film and theater fans.
--David Cohen
Barnes & Noble
Julie Andrews' recorded legacy happily experienced a September renaissance in
the mid-'90s, just a few years before unsuccessful throat surgery stilled the
legendary voice of one of musical theater's most-beloved stars. Classic Julie
Classic Broadway collects together the best of these valedictory
performances, recorded for Philips Classics. Andrews' trademark purity of
tone, impeccable diction and stunning range and control are gorgeously intact
on such perfect-for-Julie gems as "On A Clear Day," "My Funny Valentine," "If
I Loved You," "Bewitched" and "Hello, Young Lovers." Andrews' final Broadway
opus, Victor/Victoria is well represented with the ballads "Living In The
Shadows" and "Crazy World." The highlights, though, are two extended medleys
from Andrews' own career-defining megahits, Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady and
Camelot, that display the singing actress in superb form. Classic Julie is a
fitting, and moving, tribute to a lady whose taste and excellence will
continue to be an inspiration to generations of film and theater fans.
--David Cohen
All Music Guide
After a period of relative inactivity as a recording artist, Julie Andrews, then in her late fifties, returned to the recording studio for a series of projects for the Philips label in the early '90s. First, there was a studio cast recording of The King and I in 1992 in which she naturally took the role of Anna Leonowens, singing songs like "Hello, Young Lovers" and "Getting to Know You." Then there were two songwriter albums, Julie Andrews: Broadway - The Music of Richard Rodgers, released in 1994, and Julie Andrews: Broadway - Here I'll Stay - The Words of Alan Jay Lerner, held for release until 1996. Finally, Andrews took the original Broadway cast album of Victor/Victoria to Philips in 1995. Selections from these releases have been combined to create this compilation. Andrews is heard re-creating some of the music she is best known for, including medleys from My Fair Lady and Camelot, as well as The Sound of Music. But she also takes the opportunity to try out songs she never got the chance to sing onstage or in films, such as "On a Clear Day" from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and "A Cock-Eyed Optimist" from South Pacific. Even in the works she did do, there are songs which were sung by others that she here appropriates, such as "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music. Even in her maturity, Andrews retains not only her famous poise and precise intonation, but also a wonderful voice. There are occasions when the orchestrations are overly bombastic, and there are song choices that do not entirely suit the singer, particularly the lusty "Bewitched." But most of the collection is impressive, if poignant, since, at least at the time of its release, it seemed to present the best of Andrews' final recordings. William Ruhlmann
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