This two-fer compiles Polly Bergen's All Alone by the Telephone and Four Seasons of Love. It's an economical and convenient way for those who have a limited knowledge of Bergen's music to increase their knowledge and discover what lies beyond the singer's best-known recordings.
All Alone by the Telephone (1959) pairs Polly Bergen with arranger Luther Henderson to create a deeply melancholy song cycle that explores romantic estrangement and isolation from a refreshingly adult perspective. Bergen's dusky, world-weary vocals never resort to histrionics, finding their mode of expression in restraint, not release - her thoughtful interpretations of material like "Glad to Be Unhappy," "Too Late Now," and "By Myself" strip the songs to their core, articulating their themes of loss with hard-fought maturity…