Elvis Presley has achieved pretty much everything in his extensive if short career. The only thing the King of Rock'n'Roll never got was the chance to record an album with an orchestra. According to his wife Priscilla, Elvis was actually a great fan of opera and classical music. But his label had forbidden him to produce such a record.

in 2015 Elvis Presley would have turned 80, and what was denied him during his lifetime has now been realized posthumously: "If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra" is the name of Elvis Presley's new orchestral album.

For this, the London ensemble, together with producers Don Reedman and Nick Patrick, selected a total of 14 tracks from the music legend's repertoire, which they then re-orchestrated at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

Elvis fans have nothing to fear, however, as the original recordings are generally left completely untouched, despite the orchestral backing. This means that the songs have only had the orchestral parts added to them and not, as with comparable products, the vocal track isolated and the original instrumentation taken out. And that is as much an art for an orchestra as completely rearranging a song. The London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra succeeds with flying colors. The musicians receive further support from, among others, the Canadian singer Michael Bublé, who sings a "duet" with Elvis Presley, and the Italian opera trio Il Volo, which also co-interprets a song on the album.

The result is a very special new compilation of Elvis songs, including rather unknown songs like "Steamroller Blues" from 1973 or the ballad "And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind" and some big hits like "In The Ghetto", "Love Me Tender", "Fever" and "Can't Help Falling In Love". The album's first single release became the eponymous "If I Can Dream," the plea for a better world that Presley sang as the closing number of his legendary 1968 comeback special.