Stephen Schwartz - Pippin (A Decca Broadway Original Cast Album)
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Free Music Notes for Pippin (A Decca Broadway Original Cast Album)
Free Music Review: Pippin is the best!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
The cd "Pippin" is the best i've heard in a while. I love the music and how it varies in style. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!Free Music Review: Pippin
Hit: 5 Stars
We found this album to be what we wanted and expected. It was of good quality.Free Music Review: Excellent recording
Hit: 5 Stars
The music and voices are excellent as is the fidelity of the recordingFree Music Review: Extraordinary? Maybe not, but wonderful all the same...
Hit: 4 Stars
It is impossible to underestimate the importance of this show, on the other hand, it is very easy to give it credit for something that it does not have. Pippin is magical, eternally youthful and wonderfully joyful but it is still a very faulty show, and this cast recording certainly reflects its faults as well as its unique qualities. Surprisingly, it is not the storyline itself with which i have a problem. In that respect the show is witty and clever and almost revolutionary. One can easily see why its poignant message has appealed to so many, particularly in the seventies and why it is still a perenial favorite today. No, it is Schwartz' score with which i have at times had problems. I feel, (and i realize that many people will immediately hate me for saying this) that as a composer, Schwarz is anything but original. His music is certainly catchy and entertaining but it is dreadfully predictable and while many of his lyrical efforts are wonderful, they cannot rival those of the great broadway lyricists. In many ways, i think that Schwartz ushered in an era of simple, repetitious broadway scores, each of which have redeeming features but which simply aren't comparable with earlier efforts. There have been some wonderful musical compositions over the years particular in the grand and great musicals of the eighties, but generally the quality of the scores, particularly lyrically, has fallen.
But enough deep analysis, let us consider the positive aspects of this show and particularly of this recording. Ben Vereen's performance as the Leading player immediately comes to mind. The intensity and the energy which he brings to many of the songs is extraordinary; Magic to Do and Simple Joys are great song in themselves and don't need him to save them, but weaker musical moments such as Glory and On The Right Track benefit greatly from his unique quality. John Rubinstein gives an acceptable performance as Pippin; he is perhaps not extraordinary but does at least he does not ruin Corner of the Sky which is afterall the true jewel of the score. My personal favorite is Extraodinary, i love that song so much that almost anyone could sing it and i would still enjoy it. Jill Clayburgh's voice is admitedly weak but it is certainly not unpleasing; I Guess I'll Miss The Man is the most touching song on the recording and Kind of Woman is also enjoyable. Her duet with Rubinstein, Love Song, is just that, lovely. Leyland Palmer's Spread a Little Sunshine is wickedly amusing and oddly beautiful and Irene Ryan's No Time at All is a true showstopper. I always loved the idea of holding up signs with the words so the audience could sing along. War is A Science is also fun, particularly if you're in a light, jovial mood. In general i would say that the positive things about this show far outweigh its defects and would heartily reccomend it to any prospective buyer.
Free Music Review: Charming
Hit: 4 Stars
Stephen Schwartz's PIPPIN received mixed reviews when it opened on Broadway in 1972; most critics felt that both script and score were weak and the worth of the play was in Bob Fosse's staging. Ticket sales were slow until the play's producers broke with tradition and aired local television spots for the show, thus giving PIPPIN the surprising distinction of being the first Broadway show advertised via commercial.
PIPPIN went on to run a very respectable 1944 performances, and in spite of what critics thought about it in 1972 it has proven an audience favorite over the years, frequently revived on both the professional and amateur stage. First filmed before a live audience on video in 1981 with a cast that included Ben Vereen, William Katt, Chita Rivera, and Martha Raye, the screen rights were purchased by Miramax in 2003--so it is entirely possible that there may one day be a big screen version as well.
Depicted as a sort of vaudeville as seen through the eyes of a troop of strolling players, the story concerns Prince Pippin, son of King Charlemagne--an idealistic young man who longs to find a deep meaning to his life only to be thrust from one meaningless pursuit to another. A host of witty, pop-inflected songs provide the linchpins as he moves from adventure to adventure.
The star of the show is very much Ben Vereen, and it is easy to tell why he picked up a Tony: his work is gleeful, amusing, mischievous in such selections as "Magic To Do," "Glory," "On The Right Track" and the disturbing "Finale." Leland Palmer, who was often associated with Fosse (she would appear as a take on Gwen Verdon in Fosse's autobiographical film ALL THAT JAZZ) also gives a wickedly funny turn as the evil Queen Fastrada with "Spread a Little Sunshine."
The remaining cast is unexpected, for they were not best known for their vocal talents--but each emerges as remarkably effective and completely charming. John Rubinstein is extremely good in the title role, his clean and unaffected voice perfect for "Corner of the Sky," the beautiful and grossly underrated "With You," and "Morning Glow." Jill Clayburg is equally affecting; "Kind of Woman" is easily one of the most witty songs to come out of 1970s theatre. And then there is Irene Ryan.
Ryan was, of course, best known for her role as Granny on the long running television series The Beverly Hillbillies--but she was also an award winning actress with a very long career on stage and radio. PIPPIN would be her last work; she died during the run. But fortunately this recording preserves her brilliantly performed "Time To Start Living," a number that brought down the house with every show.
All of these songs are beautifully and loving preserved on this remaster, available to enjoy for decades to come. Recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer