The songwriting partnership of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart was one of the most successful on Broadway from the '20s until Hart's death in 1943. They met in 1919, whilst attending Columbia University and had their first success in 1925 with the song 'Manhattan', which soon became a popular standard. In the early 1930s they commenced a successful Hollywood career. The 17 songs in this album come from the years 1925 to 1943 and so take in almost the entire span of their collaboration.

Whilst many opera singer's attempts at taking on the popular song repertoire quite often sound stylised and over-enunciated, Frederica von Stade interprets these songs as they were intended, and John McGlinn's orchestral accompaniments are the original theatrical orchestrations with the original lyrics. The words of some of these songs may come as a surprise to those who think they know them, for what Ms von Stade sings here, being a touch more risqué, is not what is usually sung in the commercial versions. The song Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered is a good example of this.