New York (Top40 Charts/ DRG Records) - E1
Music and DRG Records is thrilled to announce the release of "The Essential
Barbara Cook," a (5 CD + 1 DVD) box set by the legendary performer
Barbara Cook, on October 13th, 2009. Never before has such an amazing collection of
Barbara Cook's illustrious recordings been assembled. In anticipation of Cook's new album scheduled for February 2010, the box set will include new material as well.
The box set will contain the 1993 release "Close As Pages In A Book" (Remixed in 2009). This release paid tribute to songs written by Dorothy Fields. The second of six albums is "Live From London" recorded in 1994 over two weeks. Also in the collection is the 1998 CD "All I Ask Of You." On this release Cook honors lyric writers and Andrew Lloyd Weber. The set also contains a visual experience by adding the 2001 taping of "Mostly Sondheim" to the set. This DVD was recorded Live at both Carnegie Hall and SUNY Purchase. One of the crown jewels in the box set is clearly "Barbara Cook Live from The Met." This live album from 2006's Metropolitan Opera marked the first time a female pop singer is presented in a solo concert in the company's 128-year history. And finally last but not least a new recording from the timeless artist. "Give Me The Simple Life" is a bonus CD and was recorded just this year and will feature the songs "I've Got You Under My Skin," "I'd Rather Be Blue," "Give Me The Simple Life," and "It Was Written In The Stars."
"Barbara Cook is the greatest theatrical singer in concert that Broadway has ever known. But don't take my word for it," says Hugh Fordin, the President of DRG Records, the label that has recorded 15 albums with Ms. Cook in the last 16 years. "Ask the hundreds of thousands of concertgoers from Carnegie Hall to the Metropolitan Opera House where she had her own one woman show to her many one woman shows on Broadway and then still there's Marian the Librarian in "The Music Man" and Bernstein's "Candide" to the shopgirl in "She Loves Me!"
This beloved singer, one of the glories of Broadway in so many fondly remembered shows, is still dazzling audiences today, with a voice remarkably unchanged after a career of more than five decades. Considered "Broadway's favorite inge'nue" during the heyday of the Broadway musical, Ms. Cook then launched a second career as a concert and cabaret artist soaring from one professional peak to another. Throughout her career her singing has attracted generations of fans, and the admiration of her peers and colleagues, from the world of both popular and classical music.
"Barbara Cook is a shining light among singers. She represents the purest example of how a great technique, sublime interpretation, intelligence and an open heart can keep a public interested for decades... She sounds as beautiful and pure as ever, she has long kept her range, and best of all, her career is continuing entirely on her own terms. Long may she reign," Renee Fleming.
