"What's New" suggested a tribute to Frank Sinatra's classic album "Only the Lonely." "Lush Life," again arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle with stylish grace and true glitter, ranges a much broader field. It presents a greater challenge to Ronstadt to make something new, interesting, and most important- emotionally valid out of material that has had classic if not "definitive" interpretations in the past. On the whole, she succeeds superbly. Thanks to her authentically contemporary musical sensibility and voice (and Riddle's masterly arrangements), her performances ring true on their own terms.

Perhaps many who have (or have heard) the old recordings of these songs will be unable to banish completely memories of, say, Marlene Dietrich's insolent Falling in Love Again, Ella Fitzgerald's filigreed Lush Life, Hoagy Carmichael's wistful Skylark, Jeri Southern's haunting When I Fall in Love, or Billie Holiday's desperate I'm a Fool to Want You. But the songs are strong enough to support more than one interpretation, and Ronstadt is so convincing in her attacks and performances that such memories recede after the first few bars. There is no nostalgia or gimmickry or retro cuteness to her work here. It is all just lovely music, beautifully performed for today's ears.