" Somewhere Over The Rainbow" Over the Rainbow was voted the best song of the twentieth Century by the Recording Industry.
For many, it will recall Judy Garland's iconic role as the lttle girl from Kansas who went off to see the Wizard of Oz and her many adventures on that journey.
This version, by the wonderful operatic singer Renee Fleming, is a totally different approach. First of all, the arrangement is so sumptuous and fully orchestral,it would rival any operatic aria written in the twentieth century by Puccinni, the acknowledged master of the bel canto singing style as heard in his La Boheme or Madam Butterfly. Renee Fleming invests her performance with a passion that illuminates the masterful harmonic of composer Harold Arlen that enhances the melody with which almost everyone is familiar.At MGM, Producer Arthur Freed had to fight studio executives who though the song was too advanced and complex to be appreciated by a mass 
audience.Fortunately, Freed prevailed. In addition,the lyrics of E.Y.Harburg have given hope to so many people. In a way,his words encapsulate the once defiant optimism  of an earlier era in America, something that now seems to have disappeared.
I would urge you to listen not with the nostalgic memory of the Garland film but as a classical vocal and orchestral composition. Right at the end ,Fleming creates her own cadenza, a trope that allows singers, musicians and composers to improvise
a personalized ending based on the main themes of Arlen's composition.

" The Girl From Ipanema" Since Portugal is the country posting the most pageviews on this blog, I always admired how Brazilian composers especially the Emperor of Bossa Nova, Antonio Carlos Jobim who is seen in this version of The Girl From Ipanema. He created and popularized the Bossa Nova which is sung in Portugese, the native language of Brazil. The Bossa Nova rhythm  is the most interesting musical trend since the 1960's . It can even be applied to standards from the Great American Songbook like in Irving Berlin's 'Change Partners. It's sung by Sinatra in true Bossa Nova fashion and accompanied by Jobim himself.

https://youtu.be/pUdnWMaysJs 

https://youtu.be/IaUp2aNKMFY    Sinatra

Retirement Planning. " Wait Till Your 65" From the musical On a Clear Day, Lerner & Loewe wrote a delightful song satirically extolling the virtues of a financially secure
retirement. I dedicate this to Wendy Hickey, my financial advisor who had me wait till 75 to enjoy the bounty of a trouble-free retirement. 

https://youtu.be/lEggjtfmnE4 

" Rhapsody for Rachmaninoff" I had developed a musicological relationship with Michael Conway Baker, an award-winning Wsr Coast composer. Iwas paricularly impressed with his ballet score for"Washington Square"based on the movie " The Heiress" which starred Olivia DeHavilland & Montgomery Clift, as a fortune hunting suitor. I helped Michael with editing some of his autobiography. He especially warned new composers to avoid teachers and academics who believe that melody or tonality was not pure and tended to excite emotions rather than succumb to a sterile, formal analysis favoured by a purely academic approach. He played his tribute to Rachmaninoff for me and,ultimately dedicated the printed score to my wife Ann Weissengruber.Ann always searches to find the melody or singing line in any composition,something that was always at the center of Michael;s own compositional efforts.
 Listen to Michael at the keyboard playing with an all female string ensemble. The melody is dominant throughout the entire piece.

https://youtu.be/bWyaEoErruc 

" A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square." After the German bombing of London ceased temporarily, this gentle song was often played to reassure Londoners that peace and tranquility would once again return when the Nightingale would sing its lovely song. Vera Lynn included this as one of her wartime songs that lifted the spirits of the British people.
This is a wonderful performance by Sir George Shearing and Mel Torme. I saw them do this version at The Royal York Hotel. As Shearing duplicated the trill of the Nightingale in high notes on the piano, the audience broke into a lengthy applause for both Shearing's piano playing and sensitive interpretation of Mel Torme.
   
https://youtu.be/CJKjn2OtyH0 

AT LAST:  Glen Miller recorded this song for  the 1941 film Sun Valley Serenade. Music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon. It later became a soulful hit for singer Etta James.  This version is by iconic singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, who demonstrates what constitutes a song " Standard.'  It's a song that, although written more than 50 years ago, is still being played and heard regularly. Joni  Mitchell is a very accomplished songwriter herself and
benefits from the symphonic style arrangement that surrounds the entire performance,


https://youtu.be/WQK4QKGbcTI

" Suppertime" Irving Berlin wrote a song in 1933. Introduced by Ethel Waters, it's about a wife's reaction to news that her husband has been lynched and how she has to tell her children that father will " Not becoming home no more !' The current social unrest around systemic racism is a reminder of the long and sad history of racism in America. You can hear the anguish in Ethel Waters voice because she had experienced the virulent racism in the South.
Earlier on, Waters introduced Harold Arlen's Stormy Weather at the Cotton Club. She had 12 encores of that song.

 https://youtu.be/Y5Zvjjbc-Hk

"  WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN"  Composed in 1944 by Carl Fischer, pianist and conductor for pop singer Frankie Laine who also provided such touching lyrics.
The song meets the demanding "quality criteria" of the Great American Songbook and also achieving popularity with a mainstream pop music audience.
Additional bonus. I have provided two versions, the firsr by Ella Fitzgerald, the second by Frank Sinatra. How fitting since Ella and Frank have recorded more high quality songs of the Great American Songbook than anyone other than  Tony Bennett.
I believe Ella's version is the most tender and sympathetic performance of the many hundreds of songs I've heard her sing. She provides a slightly more optimistic tone than Sinatra, that superb singing actor, who conveys a world-weary sadness despite the promise of an eventual  reconciliation with his loved one.
Sinatra has described himself as a manic-depressive, with his depressive side perhaps on display in this performance.

 https://youtu.be/mrFkyEG7eWw

https://youtu.be/o1Ty13_juCc