The Way We Were: My American Songbook

Itzhak Perlman is one of the violin world’s true titans, his recordings from the 1960s onwards the stuff of legend. Many of his interpretations of the greatest concertos such as those by Tchaikovsky, Bruch, Mendelssohn and Beethoven remain benchmarks to which violinists continue to aspire. At the heart of his recordings is, of course, a prodigious technique. But the secret to Perlman’s status lies also in the luxurious warmth of his sound. Throughout his career, the Israeli American violinist has emphasised the importance of playing as if violin and bow were simply an extension of the human voice. The Way We Were: My American Songbook seems the most natural expression of this belief, each song imbued with a naturally fluid and expressive phrasing. “There’s always a link between a violin…and actual singing,” Perlman tells Apple Music Classical, “and I know sometimes that when people ask singers, they always say, ‘You got to sing it like you’re playing an instrument.’” The title track, “The Way We Were”, a song immortalised in 1973 by Barbra Streisand, showcases the mellowness of tone that Perlman achieves from his Stradivarius violin, even at high registers. And there’s a noble fragility to “Send in the Clowns” that’s normally the domain of its singers. “I wanted to do something that would be different but still something that is very familiar to my style of playing,” explains Perlman. “And I thought that some of these wonderful jewels from the American songbook or Broadway were very, very beautiful. I just thought, ‘Why not? Let’s try it…’.” Elsewhere on the album, which features the Budapest Film Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Steven Mercurio, Perlman counterpoints with pianist and singer Jon Batiste on Gershwin’s “Summertime”, while on “Some Enchanted Evening” he rises to the theatrical grandeur of Josh Groban’s Broadway tones. He duets, too, with the velvet vocals of the late, great jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald on “Someone to Watch Over Me”. “Ella Fitzgerald’s singing was, I mean, how can I explain it? It was like perfection as far as I’m concerned,” says Perlman. “Her intonation and her phrasing, just perfect. And I said, ‘Oh, God, I wish I could do something.’ And then it occurred to me, you know, why not? It’s something that is almost like a dream come true to work with somebody who is no longer with us. “‘Summertime’ with Jon Batiste was also a lot of fun,” he continues. “There was an awful lot of improvisation going on, which made it special for me because, you know, classical musicians are not into improvising.” Yes, he adds, classical artists can alter phrasing, colour, dynamics and ornamentation, but as far as the notes go, classical scores are normally set in stone. He laughs: “The thing about improvising like you do in jazz is that if you play a wrong note and you repeat it, it becomes right!” Perlman’s views on improvisation certainly come from experience, and The Way We Were is far from his first adventure outside the classical threshold. There’s traditional Jewish klezmer, for instance, explored on 1995’s In the Fiddler’s House, and a clutch of jazz albums: A Different Kind of Blues (1980) and the following year’s It’s a Breeze, both featuring André Previn at the top of his jazz game; and Side by Side (1994) with the effortlessly elegant playing of Oscar Peterson. On all of them, Perlman throws himself in, matching the energy and inspiration of these great pianists. “I always felt that if I wanted to do something that’s not classical,” Perlman reveals, “I needed to know that it worked, that it was not forced. I would never record something just for the sake of recording it unless I felt convinced that I can do it justice, and that I like it.” And if Perlman likes it, there’s little doubt that we will, too. The Way We Were is ample proof of that.