Leontyne Price, Andre Previn
"Right as the Rain" (Vinyl)

In college I was presented with the notion that the American songbooks were quickly being adopted by my generation's opera singers as part of the canon of literature. As it turns out, this is kind of an old idea.
This record, released in 1967, is exactly the sort of thing that we've seen in the last couple of decades from the likes of Sylvia McNair and Thomas Hampson.
Broadway standards are wrapped in new arrangements by the always-terrific Andre Previn and vary from full orchestral scores to solo piano.

I'm not the biggest fan of Ms. Price's voice, but I can appreciate the project.