Melissa Errico – Legrand Affair: The Songs of Michel Legrand
**** (out of 4 stars)
Label: Sh-K-Boom Records
To paraphrase the lyric of a perfect song on this sublime album, “in another (even more perfect) life” Melissa Errico would star in at least two new Broadway musicals written just for her each season. In another time, an entertainment programming legend such as CBS’s William Paley would have seen to it that her abundant talents graced the nation’s living rooms on a weekly basis. In another land, she would be the cherished princess who keeps her peasants content by singing to them from her side of the castle walls. If there ever was a voice that could pull off “happily ever after,” it’s Melissa Errico’s.
Melissa Errico’s singing shows audiences that a voice is most effective when it brings a listener’s full attention to the song (and not necessarily just to the voice itself). But I’ll admit it — I bet an album of Melissa Errico doing vocal scales would be nearly perfect as well; she just has an instrument that is that refined and well-tuned.
In my time, I selfishly hope that she finds trunks and trunks of previously unrecorded songs composed by Michel Legrand. The songs of Michel Legrand are the perfect opportunity for Errico to share the extent of her breathtaking vocal abilities. She has the challenge of taking songs that you already knew and loved and bringing their emotional life to the forefront, often letting the lyric surpass one gorgeous melody after another (no easy feat with Legrand tunes that are as eternal as Paris itself).
I first heard Melissa Errico sing the music of Michel Legrand in 2002, when she starred in his Broadway musical Amour. That show had a very brief run, but I was lucky enough to see it more than once. From her very first entrance, it was clear that she was meant to sing Legrand’s deliberately atmospheric love songs. Like Liza Minnelli singing Kander & Ebb, Julie Andrews singing Rodgers & Hammerstein or Barbara Cook singing Sondheim — once you’ve heard Melissa Errico sing Legrand no one else will do.
Backed by a 100-piece orchestra (the Flemish Radio Orchestra, now known as the Brussels Philharmonic), produced by the legendary Phil Ramone (co-produced by Richard Jay-Alexander), Legrand Affair is an event… a musical phenomenon… an ambitious and standard-setting project of taste and refinement… a collection of Oscar-nominated songs that puts this century’s “Best Song” nominees to shame.
Listening to and contemplating an album such as Melissa Errico’s Legrand Affair reminds me of just how challenging it is to write a glowing review (whilst maintaining critical credibility). Writing a negative review of a failed project is so much easier than writing a love-letter to an artistic achievement that surpasses all expectation. When reviewing an album such as this one, all I can do is try not to sound like a sentimental fool who has lost all sense of perspective. The most I can hope for is that my words lead a reader to check out a sample of the album (on iTunes, or Amazon.com. or the artist’s website) and decide for themselves.
The complete track list:
1. “I WAS BORN IN LOVE WITH YOU”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
2.”THE SUMMER KNOWS”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
3. “HIS EYES, HER EYES”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
4. “THE WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
5. “I WILL WAIT FOR YOU”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Norman Gimbel
6. “IN ANOTHER LIFE”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
7. ‘MARTINA”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Hal Shaper
8. “DIS MOI”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Francoise Sagan
9. ‘YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
10. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
11. “HOW DO YOU KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING?”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
12. “SOMETHING NEW IN MY LIFE”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
13. “MAYBE SOMEONE DREAMED US”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
14. “ONCE UPON A SUMMERTIME”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
15. “CELUI-LA”
Music: Michel Legrand
Lyrics: Eddy Marnay
Produced for Records by Phil Ramone
Album Co-Producer Richard Jay-Alexander
Mixed by Lawrence Manchester
Album Executive Producers – Kurt Deutsch and Patrick McEnroe
Associate Producers – Marc Silag and Pat Rains
Orchestra conducted by Michel Legrand
All Piano by Michel Legrand
To visit Melissa Errico’s website, click here.
To preview or purchase this album on iTunes, click here.
