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She began her career as a folk formalist. Her clear, clean diction and perfect pitch wedded to both age-old folk songs and modern upstarts (Dylan, Eric Andersen) cast her as an immediate authority. With In My Life and Wildflowers she began to shift away from pure folk and into art song. Arranged and conducted by Joshua Rifkin, the disc's orchestration adds a suitable grace to Collins's high seriousness. Joni Mitchell's two compositions are further softened, while Leonard Cohen's three songs sound positively biblical. Toss in a Jacques Brel piece and a 14th-century Italian ballad, and you have the perfect formation of Collins's aesthetic before it congealed in the middle of the road. --Rob O'Connor, ISBN13: B000002I26 ISBN10: B000002I26 Material Type: audioCD