Carpentersville - Lucy Schaufer
1,171 views · Published 27 May 2013 · 3:49 · Indexed 21 September 2026
Channel: ABC Classic · 2013 · Music
Buy now/more info here: http://bit.ly/15a09Cq Lucy Schaufer is a vocal shape-shifter, and of an altogether tantalising, alluring and aurally enriching sort. A product of the small-town America that gives this solo CD its title (Carpentersville refers to the town of her birth, 35 miles northwest of Chicago), this music-theatre star long ago tested her mettle on the international stage. The disc, accordingly, reflects a musical journey that casts one eye affectionately and sometimes ruefully on Schaufer's roots while keeping her artistry moving ever onward. Its range, too, is as broad as the career that Schaufer has so skillfully made her own across many continents -- and years. It's sometimes said that you can't go home again, but Lucy Schaufer begs to differ. The abundantly gifted singer -- an American long-time resident in England -- is returning to her roots with the solo CD, Carpentersville, which the Illinois native recorded in UK studios late last year. It's a disc steeped in love and affection for her late father that at the same time pays homage to Schaufer's musical origins and influences, past and present. From Leonard Bernstein to Richard Rodgers's grandson Adam Guettel, from Hopper's Wife composer Stewart Wallace to the 1950s cabaret singer Ruth Wallis, Schaufer's choice of material covers the American waterfront and more: Carpentersville has a bit of Bach thrown in, as well. And given the stirring eclecticism of Schaufer's career to date, why not? Schaufer's intention with Carpentersville is to draw upon her past even as she moves forward with a CV that continues both to delight and surprise. "When my dad died [in November 2010], I began reflecting on the energy, enthusiasm and passions that make me who I am: an American in London conceived within the American Dream and yet living in the Old World" -- specifically, as a UK-based mezzo soprano who in 1996 married English tenor Christopher Gillett; the couple met when she sang Hermia to his Lysander in 1994. Classically trained, Schaufer points to the importance in her view of material that is "deeply embedded in the language of song and story-telling". Small wonder, then, that she is drawn to the humanity and emotion conjured by Leonard Bernstein in Dream With Me, from Peter Pan, and 100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man, from Wonderful Town, to cite just two of the glories from the musical theatre repertoire heard on Carpentersville. The album also features three world premiere recordings: Lazy Summer Days, from Stewart Wallace's provocative American opera Hopper's Wife, Margaret: The Beauty Is, from the Tony Award-winning musical The Light in the Piazza, and the deliciously satirical Martha, with words by Amanda McBroom, of "The Rose" fame.
