So, when this Laura Nyro album appeared on the shelves, many dutifully bought what we thought, judging by the cover art, was a debut album by a sensitive folk singer/songwriter.

Proposing to a distinguished orchestra like the Berlin Philharmonic and its conductor, a logistically, artistically and technically complex and risky project like this one would be improbable in any year, but forty years into the digital recording era, it’s miraculous, though their agreeing to it is even more so.