Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazingly Theatrical Recording..., March 24, 2000
This is one of my favourite shows. I only knew The Baker's Wife from the original American cast recording, which, despite its competent cast, leaves us yearning to learn the context into which those great songs were inserted. What a joy it was then to hear this very theatrical version of the show. The whole plot is there. You get to know the background of the actual action. The story takes place in a small village, Concorde, where a new baker arrives with his young wife. The villagers are a very important part of the story, and they are wittily and funnily represented - by an amazing ensemble - in clever songs like *If it wasn't for you* (about the ill will and old grudges among Concorde's neighbours), *Buzz a-buzz* (showing the gossipy nature of the villagers), *Luckiest man in the world* (about the practical philosophy of small town people), etc. The actors are all great and the recording contain big chunks of dialogue, which provides us with the context of the songs and makes us feel we are watching a real show. This recording is typically British in the sense that acting and theatricality are the main concern, which leads us to some reservations some people may have regarding the performers' singing abilities. Sharon Lee-Hill is no Liz Callaway, so it's possible that some may be very disappointed with her musical rendition of the classic Meadowlark. On the other hand, she gives a superb performance. If you concentrate on her words, you will be very touched by her heart-rending exposure of a soul who's been badly hurt and it's terribly afraid to give love another chance. Sharon Lee-Hill's Geneviève is still young and vulnerable and makes a strong contrast with LuPone's (from the American recording) more mature and more cynical wife. Hill's bright youthfulness and touching inexperience - she is really like a beautiful and fragile butterfly - makes you actually forgive her infidelity. Alun Armstrong's Aimable is just stunning. If you don't feel deeply for him, you must have a heart of stone. Drue Williams is an extreme virile and caddish Dominic and Jill Martin a very sweet Denise. Once more, this is a recording for those who favour theatricality over mere singing virtuosity. Not a recording for diva fans, but for drama enthusiasts.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting and charming: the greatest forgotten musical, August 28, 2002
I fell in love with 'The Baker's Wife' 12 years ago. I'm still a fan - this is not one of those scores you like then discard.This is show that exudes simplicity. It tells the story of how Genevieve, a young woman who has recently married a much older man - the Baker - leaves him for a local hunk, only to discover that the love and security of her marriage is (not surprisingly) missing. She returns to her husband - and that's about it. This admittedly unexciting story is presented through the framework of the cafe-owner, Denise, whos opens the show with the haunting ballad 'Chanson' and tells us how it takes a change or shock to make you appreciate your life. Life, made up of repetition and routine, will suddenly be seen for what it is - 'you may want to run, or you may want to stay for ever.' This is the test Genevieve must endure. At the end, when all is well, Denise steps back to reprise 'Chanson' and leave us with the moral. The music and lyrics this is set to are a mixture of haunting ballads and rousing, comic chorus numbers with a music-hall feel. The orchestration is intricate and sublime - the best I have heard on a show CD - you can hear a flute solo, and so on, in a way quite unlike normal fare in musicals. There's enough dialogue included to make the recording stand up as a one of a piece of musical theatre, not just a collection of songs. If you like musicals based on atmosphere and emotion, and don't mind a bit of sentimentality, this is for you - it seems to breathe summer days, gaiety, self-doubt, melancholy and then final happiness in a delicate and bewitching way. Come and fall in love with 'The Baker's Wife.'
"Once, long ago - well it seems long ago,
For the briefest of moments a romance was mine.
He thought I was beautiful - I thought he was fine.
But now I can barely recall - or did I imagine it all?" "And then one day, suddenly, something can happen
It may be quite simple, it may be quite small,
But all of a sudden your stew tastes different,
And you hear the gulls cry in a different key,
And you see with new eyes, and the faces you see
Are people you don't know at all..... Now your whole life is different,
Now your whole life is new."
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning score preserved in its best form, March 10, 2002
Stephen Schwartz's legendary "flop" musical receives a loving (and thorough) treatment on CD, with new orchestrations and many additional songs. Unlike many of the reviewers here, I haven't heard this score in a different form, or with different singers. Still, I found the vocal talent on this recording more than adequate for the demands of the score. It might be interesting to hear an opera company tackle this score, but I'm not sure it would necessarily be better. Much of the score seems geared more toward the "singing actor" more than the classically trained vocalist. Refreshingly, the songs play as dramatic scenes, and not as 32-bar standards.I'm also not sure if _The Baker's Wife_ could truly succeed in a full stage production. There's a possibly fatal disjunction between the emotional heft of the score, and the fairly routine village drama that surrounds it. Trevor Nunn seems to think the solution is largely in the lighting. Production photos of the 1990 London production show everything as dim and brown, as if the story were set in Algeria instead of rural France. I wouldn't recommend that approach -- but what approach would be better? As a concert performance, however, _The Baker's Wife_ could be an extraordinary experience. This recording, which comes as close to such a performance as you're likely to hear, is a must for any fan of musical theater (including all opera lovers). Five stars.
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