Frank Sinatra: The Concert Sinatra

If Elvis is the King of Rock n' Roll and Michael Jackson is the King of Pop, then Frank Sinatra is certainly the King of Standards. As much as Elvis and MJ's voices are very recognizable, so is Sinatra's. His charisma, charm, style and vocal abilities are the stuff of legends, which he no doubt is. Based on the album title, one might think that The Concert Sinatra is a live album. It is actually a compilation of "show tunes" performed in studio in a concert style under the direction of arranger Nelson Riddle and his orchestra, which consisted of 76 musicians. At the time, it represented the largest orchestra assembled for any Sinatra album.

As far as the music goes, the orchestration and vocals are excellent. While the song selection may not be of the type that most would typically associate with Sinatra, they are performed well. In Stephen Thomas Erlewine's review for AllMusic, he states "Despite the large number of musicians, the music is never overbearing. Instead, it is grand and sweeping, providing appropriately epic... Sinatra is given the opportunity to demonstrate his full emotional range."

Track listing
1. I Have Dreamed" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)
2. My Heart Stood Still (Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
3. Lost in the Stars (Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill)
4. Ol' Man River (Hammerstein, Jerome Kern)
5. You'll Never Walk Alone (Rodgers, Hammerstein)
6. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Rodgers, Hart)
7. This Nearly Was Mine (Rodgers, Hammerstein)
8. Soliloquy (Rodgers, Hammerstein)

The Mobile Fidelity release is from their Original Master Recording series and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. MOFI enlisted the manufacturing services of Rhino Records to press the record, which always gives us pause from a quality control perspective. This release is also incorporates MOFI's Half-Speed Mastering process and the GAIN 2 ULTRA ANALOG SYSTEM™. Released in 2011, it is possible that this release is not all analog and possibly incorporates a digital step. As was noted in the well publicized lawsuit against MOFI, many releases from 2011 and beyond were marketed as all analog when in fact they were not.

Which is better, digital or analog? That question is always a debate among audiophiles. For us, it is sound that matters most. While we would argue that analog tends to sound warmer than digital, there are some very good digital releases that can hold their own against analog. Donal Fagen's The Nightfly being one. It is and has always been all digital. The MOFI One-Step release of that album is superb.

MOFI's release of The Concert Sinatra is a very well pressed and mastered record. Sinatra's vocals come through with the vibrato of his voice sounding warm and present. By present we mean in the room. The vinyl is quiet and the music (orchestra) has excellent detail, separation, and dynamic range. It does suffer a little from the famous MOFI smiley face EQ, but not so much that it results in listener fatigue at high volume. 💰

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