Dionne Warwick Sings Cole Porter earned contrasting reviews from music critics.
People found that "though not altogether a trip to the moon on gossamer wings, it’s still a wonderfully buoyant endeavor. With a voice that sounds like coffee percolating, Warwick charges her way through 13 of Porter’s intoxicating, seductive hits [...] Strange, dear, but true, dear, the unusual combination of Warwick and Porter works. For a singer who’s primarily known for her pop sound, Warwick does a surprisingly fine job of putting over Porter’s wry, elegant lyrics." Stephen Holden from
The New York Times sumed the album as "sedate, homogenized ballroom style of traditional pop [...]." Ron Wynn from
AllMusic called
Dionne Warwick Sings Cole Porter "a grand idea, but Warwick didn't meet the challenge as magically as she might have in the 1960s or '70s. Instead, she sounded almost prim and stiff instead of engaging and confident [...] It was still worth hearing, but far from the anticipated triumph." Greg Sandow in
Entertainment Weekly wrote, "it can't be easy for seasoned professionals to squeeze the life out of 11 airy Cole Porter songs. But Dionne Warwick and her arranger Arif Mardin come amazingly close to doing just that. Most of the fault is Warwick's. She can sing the songs, in a voice that rides with brassy equilibrium over the highest arch of their often-challenging melodies. But she doesn't brighten them." ==Commercial performance==