The Classic Della is an album by actress and singer Della Reese

Della Reese

Delloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese , is an American actress, singer, game show panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You...

. The songs are based on classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 pieces by Tchaikovsky ("Symphony No. 6," "Melodie Op. 42"), Debussy ("Reverie"), Schubert ("Serenade"), Chopin ("Etude in E, Op. 10 No. 3," "Polonaise No. 6 Op. 53"), and Puccini ("Musetta's Waltz Song" from La Bohème). The album was arranged and conducted by Glenn Osser and produced by Hugo and Luigi who wrote in the liner notes,

"It was after the album was finished and we were listening to the first playbacks that we decided on the title ... the only title that can describe the content and the artistry captured in these grooves ... THE CLASSIC DELLA." Hugo and Luigi

Track listing

1. The Story of a Starry Night (Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky adpt. Mann Curtis, Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston) 2:50
2. These Are the Things I Love (Tchaikovsky adpt. Barlow, Harris) 3:35
3. If You Are But a Dream (Rubenstein adapt. Nat Bonx, Jack Fulton, Moe Jaffe) 3:07
4. My Reverie (Claude Debussy
   Claude Debussy
   Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
   
    adapt. Clinton) 3:39
5. Take My Heart (Albert Ketèlbey
   Albert Ketèlbey
   Albert William Ketèlbey , born Ketelbey, was an English composer, conductor and pianist.-Biography:...
   
    adapt. Luigi Creatore, Peretti, Wess) 2:44
6. Stranger in Paradise (Alexander Borodin
   Alexander Borodin
   Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
   
    adapt. Forrest, Wright) 3:01
7. Gone (Riccardo Drigo
   Riccardo Drigo
   Riccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
   
    adapt. Peretti, Creatore, Weiss) 2:38
8. Serenade (Franz Schubert
   Franz Schubert
   Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
   
    adapt. Peretti, Creatore, Weiss) 3:24
9. Moon Love (Tchaikovsky adapt. David, Davis, Kostelanetz) 2:58
10. Softly My Love (Chopin adapt. Bennett, Tepper) 2:42
11. Till the End of Time (Chopin adapt. Kaye, Mossman) 3:30
12. Don't You Know?
    Don't You Know?
    "Don't You Know?" is a 1959 popular song by written by Bobby Worth, and hit record for singer Della Reese.The song was adapted from an aria from Puccini's La Boheme. It became Reese's biggest hit, reaching number two on the U.S. Pop chart and number one on the U.S. R&B chart...
    
      (Puccini adapt. Bobby Worth) 2:35

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1962	Billboard Album Chart Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...	94

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1959	"Don't You Know"	Billboard Pop Singles	2
1959	"Don't You Know"	Billboard Black Singles	1