I understand it’s not your cup of tea, Stuart. The song “Lost In The Stars” was, in fact, written by the great Kurt Weill for a Broadway musical.
One of the beauties of music is that it affects us all differently. Personally, while I certainly enjoy certain genres more than others, there is no genre at all that I “dislike”. This is why I wrote: “Even if this genre is not one’s thing, the great artistry is impossible to miss.”. For me, Bennett’s artistry and expressivity are pretty amazing. As you say, much of this is subjective, but I would not characterize those arrangements as grandiose at all, but lush and tasteful……for the genre.
I feel that there is great value as music lovers to not put up boundaries based on genre, but rather always stay open, at least to some degree, to sheer musical excellence; independent of genre and even what our “tastes” are at any particular point. As was discussed between you and mahgister a few posts prior this is something that changes and evolves.
Cheers.
Another version that some might call sublime (I still prefer Bennett’s):
https://youtu.be/_Gt9TUOMhUs?si=NlNw-I3tvImu2UgX
And one that makes me wonder “what was he thinking?! “. Very interesting string writing/arrangement and horrible vocals:
https://youtu.be/orMCgDSfxQs?si=esX_qmGQRJwFlfch
