Candide
Bernstein
Candide, operetta in two acts
Premiered on 1 December 1956 in New York, at the Martin Beck Theatre. Concert version, 1993
Music
by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics
by Richard Wilbur
Additional lyrics
by Stephen Sondheim, John Larouche, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman, Leonard Bernstein
Concert narration
by Leonard Bernstein and John Wells, based on Voltaire’s satire and Hugh Wheeler’s libretto, edited and expanded by Erik Haagensen
Orchestration
by Leonard Bernstein and Hershy Kay
Musical continuity and additional orchestration
by John Mauceri
Opera or musical?
Candide is a will-o’-the-wisp of a work: hybrid, irreverent and constantly changing masks before our eyes. Leonard Bernstein transforms Voltaire’s philosophical tale into a dazzling succession of bravura arias and delirious ensembles in which the hero’s optimism collides with shards of cabaret exposing the world’s cruelty beneath its polished surface. A kiss, an expulsion, and Candide is swept from catastrophe to mirage, through war, arbitrariness and the everyday malice of humankind.Born out of post-war America and the era of the witch hunts, the work still resonates today through its echoes of ecological anxiety and violence against women, both sharply present throughout the story. Myriam Muller turns this journey into a baroque fable sliding gradually into the present: from operetta décor to a music-hall Venice, and finally to desolate urban landscapes scarred by an overexploited world. When certainties collapse, one phrase remains, almost as an act in itself: we must cultivate our garden.
Let dreamers dream what worlds they please.
Distribution
New production by the Opéra national de Nancy-Lorraine and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg
Co-production with the Opéra de Reims
Opéra national de Nancy-Lorraine Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor
Gaetano Lo Coco
Chorus Master
Virginie Déjos
Directed by
Myriam Muller
Set design by
Christian Klein
Costumes by
Sophie Van den Keybus
Lighting by
Renaud Ceulemans
Video by
Emeric Adrian
Choregraphy by
Lionel Hoche
Assistant director
Paul Higgins
Candide
Robert Lewis
Cunégonde
Florie Valiquette
Assistant director
Janis Kelly
Paquette
Anouk Defontenay
Maximilian
Noam Heinz
The Governor, Vanderdendur, Ragotski
James Kryshak
Pangloss
Simon Butteriss
Narrator
Jules Werner
Cacambo
n.n
Exploring further:
Dr Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964): A comedy on the brink of the abyss, where laughter becomes a weapon in the face of catastrophe.
Candide or Optimism (Voltaire, 1759): A satirical, humorous and cruel source, a distillation of irony where adventure serves as a scalpel against certainties.
Candide, the finest music for the worst of all worlds: A conversation with Gaetano Lo Coco, conductor. Wed 25 Nov at 6 pm at the Opera (details p. 78).
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