Decca's simply named Love Song collection gathers performances of romantic show tunes from the '60s to the 2000s, spanning musicals as venerable as The Fantasticks and as recent as Mamma Mia!.
Siobhan McCarthy's rendition of "The Winner Takes It All" from the latter show imbues the song with a sweeping grandeur that's markedly different than
ABBA's original version, while
Jerry Orbach's "Try to Remember,"
Betty Buckley's "Memory," and
Yvonne Elliman's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" remain among the definitive performances of these songs. Fittingly, "Love Song" also features a fair portion of duets, chief among them
Peabo Bryson and
Lea Salonga's performance of The King & I's "I Have Dreamed" and
John Rubenstein and
Jill Clayburgh's rendition of "Love Song" from Pippin.
Marilyn Horne's "Love, Look Away" from Flower Drum Song,
Bernadette Peters' "Time Heals Everything" from Mack and Mabel, and
Anna Maria Alberghetti's rendition of Carnival's "Love Makes the World Go Round" are some of the other standout tracks from this unique, often charming collection of Broadway-bound love songs. ~ Heather Phares