“Bridges of Madison County,” Jason Robert Brown’s latest work, is up for a Tony award for best original score, and rightfully so: with Brown’s rich melodies and a star performance by Kelli O’Hara as Francesca, an Italian-Iowan housewife who longs for something more, the cast album is a delight to listen to from start to finish.

Brown, the composer, is back on Broadway after his short-lived “13” (2009). Where “13” was bouncy, jubilant and funny, “Bridges of Madison County” is subdued and serious. None of the songs are exactly catchy -- they are too musically complex to be hummable -- but Brown has prepared a sumptuous feast for the ear. Fantastical elements like a strong string section and sonorous, operatic background singing paint Francesca’s Iowa in a mythical way. The score has a musical depth that has too long been missing from Broadway.  Whitney Bashor knocks the ball out of the park on numbers like “Another Life,” perfectly conveying her character’s wistfulness about what could have been between her and Robert, the mysterious worldly photographer. That song is brilliant work by Brown, one of the best in the show; most of the other songs, though strong melodically, have somewhat forgettable lyrics. “Another Life” is one of the few examples where the lyrics are as strong as the musical notes they rest on top of.

Like the sometimes-sappy movie and book it was based on, “Bridges of Madison County” might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But even if you’d rather jump off one of the bridges of Madison County than see the play, I’d recommend giving this album at least a listen.