Customer Reviews

The Baker's Wife: An Original Cast Recording (1976 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Some of Stephen Schwartz's most beautiful music. Whereas PIPPIN, for example, is stylistically very much of its day, THE BAKER'S WIFE transcends any particular era. The simple mélodie (CHANSON) that opens the show and defines the entire musical is really bewitching.

Each character gets a beautiful extended piece with which to communicate his or her character. How sympathetic is Genevieve after we hear GIFTS OF LOVE. In the original story by Giono she is portrayed as a misbehaving wife. Schwartz adds wonderful humanity to her character.

If only the book could have achieved half of what Schwartz achieved musically this musical would have had a decent run on Broadway. Listen to the coda at the end of MEADOWLARK where Genevieve decides to leave. The same music is effectively used at the end of WHERE IS THE WARMTH, but sung by a very different Genevieve than the one we saw in the beginning.

The reprise of GIFTS OF LOVE still moves me even after listening to this score for more than 10 years. How these characters have evolved after the events of just a few days.

Patti LuPone -- what can you say? She's phenomenal in this. What a truly beautiful voice.

To co-opt a phrase from the show, this recording provides endless delights.

This is without a doubt Schwartz's most exquisite score, and although the London cast version is the more complete of the original versions, both are worth owning. I recently had the pleasure of seeing the newly reworked version of it (by Schwartz himself) at the Goodspeed Opera House's black box theatre in Conn. All of the magic of the original (and particularly the London cast cd) has been retained, but most of the fat has been trimmed. While there are still a few kinks to work out,(primarily, the ensemble being far more well-defined and back-storied than the leads) this show is obviously destined for a return to NYC, perhaps in a Lincoln Center/ Roundabout type production. The ensemble alone makes the experience worthwhile. By all means purchase this beautiful recording and be the first in line to view this mystical, dreamy production if and when it finally gets its due on b-way.

Granted, the show has problems. There is hardly any sub-plot, the minute Genevieve leaves Aimable you know she's going to come back to him, and the antagonist is somewhat cartoon-like, but the music is great!! For those who believe that there are "only three good songs," listen closely! And if you have listened closely, listen closer! All of the music is rich and full and lovely, crafted masterfully and filled with levels that make us sympathetic to the characters!

I love this show and this CD. It is a chance to have a piece of Broadway obscurity, (since the original production closed on the road),that refuses to remain obscure. This is a highly recommendable purchase! One star is missing because it is not the full, beautiful score.

I had the good fortune to see the world premiere production of the revised Baker's Wife back in 1980. The small, intimate show was full of warmth, humor and a touching climax when the townsfolk convince the wife to return home instead of going off alone. The original release of this recording on vinyl included a small EP record with four extra songs -- two that are still part of the show (the hilarious "Bread" must be Broadway's only production number about the joy of baked goods)and two other songs that were dropped along the way, sung by Schwartz himself with piano accompaniment. This recording is still wonderful, but isn't really complete without Bread and the townswomen's song to the baker. Paul Sorvino's voice is incredible, and the rest of the cast quite enjoyable. From the simplicity of "Chanson", to the touching "Where is the Warmth?" it's a captivating, entertaining and moving record that I recommend highly. Now if they'd just re-release it with the missing songs.

This show is a glorious gift of love for hopeless romantics. Any cynicism should be shut off when listening. Just let your heart soak in this sweet story which you can completely understand from the songs on this recording.

The talented Schwartz knows how to write melodies. And in this recording of "The Baker's Wife", he adds lyrics that express the simple truths and complex quandries that we all face in life and love.

It begins with the theme "Chanson" which reminds us that perspective and focus are the cornerstones of knowing what's important in life. "Gifts of Love" tells how decisions often have elements of both joy and regret. "Meadowlark" deliberates the choice between responsibility to loved ones and the responsibility to your dreams. And "Where is the Warmth" is the most beautiful and insightful deliniation between love and lust that I've ever heard in song.

And yes, this CD is edited. But if you let your heart fill in the blanks, I promise you'll feel swept away by the beauty of the score, the lesson learned, and the true lovers united.

Would that someone would produce this show with just the characters we hear here. I can't imagine a dry eye in the house! Until that day, we can enjoy this sweet slice of this much loved and much under appreciated valentine .

For the chance to hear Patti LuPone's original rendition of "Meadowlark", this CD is worth the purchase. But a closer inspection of this recording provides so many more musical theatre gems, from "Chanson" to "Gifts of Love" to "Where is the Warmth?". Stephen Schwartz's score manages to soar over a problematic libretto (which seems to plague him often) and his music to the Baker's Wife has entered a rare plane enjoyed by only a few musical theatre shows: it enjoys cult status with hordes of fans. With good reason: Schwartz could easily have achieved an amazing feat with the success of the Baker's Wife: his first three shows on Broadway (Godspell, Pippin, the Magic Show) all ran for over 1,000 performances and he reigned for quite some time as the only American composer to achieve three musicals running simultaneously on Broadway (until 1999 when Frank Wildhorn caught up for a brief while). Imagine 4 shows running at the same time! Unfortunately, this show closed out-of-town, but we are blessed with a recording that preserves the original score in all its "problematic" glory.

Stephen Schwartz, known for writing such musical theater staples as GODSPELL and PIPPIN, brings us the depressing story of a good Baker who doesn't exactly get's his wife's bread to rise, if you catch my meaning. So she runs off and has an affair with an egotistical hunk only to find that love is much harder to replace than a stud.

Patti LaPone (known for creating the role of EVITA and Fontine in LES MISERABLES) does a wonderful job as the wife. Her performance of this musical's calling card long winded song "MEADOW LARK" is perfect. The Baker is sung well and his "IF I HAVE TO LIVE ALONE" is utterly heartbreaking. Even the Hunk is well cast with one of the funniest, character defining songs I've heard in musical theater: "PROUD LADY". But three actors and three good solos do not a musical make.

Other than those three songs, the rest of the score left me uninterested and, frankly, bored. The plot was utterly depressing (but not like Les Miserables, where good things in the end can come out of all the misery) and the reunion of Baker & Wife at the end seemed forced and I didn't buy it for one minute.

A depressing musical with mostly boring songs is not puchase worthy. BUT much more worth while investments in what is normally brilliant workmanship are Schwartz's PIPPIN, GODSPELL and his newest creation is just now beginning to surface in the states, and my current favorite of his, CHILDREN OF EDEN. All three of those ARE definately worth buying.

To give you an example my taste, my all-time favorites are LES MISERABLES & SWEENEY TODD.

After the Mega success of PIPPIN, Stephen Schwartz wrote a small and intimate Musical about a Baker and his wife. He is an older man, and has taken her to live in a new town. He will do anything to make her happy. He treats her well and does anything for him, yet she is somehow unsatisfied. She then meets a young handsome man in the marketplace and falls in love with his youth and beauty. They soon run off together. The rest of the story is the wife deciding if she should go back to her husband. The music that Schwartz treasts us with is both charming and catchy.

It begins with a village girl singing "Chason" sung by Teri Ralston (COMPANY fame) it's a simple beginning to the love triangle that lies ahead. (A Small Village folk song was recommended by Jerome Robbins, when he saw the original Previews where the show opens with a Chrous Number. Mr. Robbins thought it might be a wiser idea to open with an intimate song, and Stephen took the advice! )

Enter Paul Sorvino as the baker Aimable, and the incomprible Patti LuPone as the wife Genevieve. "Merci Madame" is a delightful tune about their first day in the new town, and just how much he loves her. Everything seems to be going fine in their marriage until sometime after when she grows tired of the same routine. "Gifts of Love" is a gentle song questioning her love for her husband, and why it's so difficult to please him with the little things he asks for, such as lighting the oven.

Days later a handsome young man by the name of Dominique spots Genevieve in the marketplace. He is immediately smitten and sings the hilariously conceited "Proud Lady." "Serenade" is the love trio, between the torn people. Aimable is beginning to suspect Genevieve's sadness.

Then THE SONG of the show. "Meadowlark", Genevieve's journey to the answer she's waiting for, should she stay where she's content, or should she go to where her heart burns with passion. The meadowlark in her favorite story died when she had to remain, Genevieve's choice is to leave. Patti LuPone is so Phenomenal singing this song. I'm so glad she's the first woman to sing it. She is a very strong actress best known for her portrayal of EVITA. Her voice is phenomenal and her acting, superb. (The role of Genevieve was originally written for Betty Buckley! )

"Any Day Now Day" has the now alone Aimable, optimistically awaiting her return. Sorvino has a strong voice, but has a high tenor quality, which works. It makes him sound like a chubby, jovial baker, like on the cover of the CD. Now Genevieve and Dominique are basking in their romance with "Endless Delights." Except Dominique doesn't sound as sincere as Genevieve. During this she begins to wonder about Aimable who has now begun to face the fact she's not coming back, "If I have To Live Alone."

Genevieve is in another predicament. She can't stop thinking about Aimable, and how wonderful he is. She burns for Dominique but something is missing. "The fire is there, but where is the warmth." As she sings, shes begins to realize that she and Aimable fit. She returns to him, and lites the oven without thought. She has found her place.

This is a very simple musical, that has some wonderful songs. "Meadowlark" is definitely the highpoint of the show. An interesting tidbit: I heard when the show originally opened in 1976, someone tried to steal the score of "Meadowlark" away, and succeeded, because they dispised the song so much and thought it would bring failure to the show. Little did he know it would become one of Schwartz's most famous and loved songs of all time!

It's the signature song of this ablum that I love, Meadowlark. Actually, as an accompanist I have had the pleasure of learning this song to accompany a wonderful singer, and then fell in love with this music. I agree with the post below that there are really only three strong songs in the show, but I think that they are worth getting your hands on. They get 5 stars, the cd gets 3.

"Every day has you do what you do everyday." This is a lovely score, and "Chanson" makes it worthwhile. Buy it.