Candide

Bernstein wrote some of the most unique American music ever produced. His desire to bridge the gap between standard opera and American Broadway was manifested in Candide; a story that I personally would have hated had it not been for Bernstein's music. Candide in its previous forms was a disaster; the lyrics were all wrong, the casting was odd, it just didn't pop. In this culmination however, it seemed as if God himself smiled on the voices of this talented cast. Jerry Hadley possesses the uncanny talent to understand the medium between the opera of Candide and its Broadway roots. June Anderson is the greatest thing ever. Her voice is from heaven itself. In 'Glitter and Be Gay' you find that she not only vocally understands the role of Cunegonde, but she defines it. You cannot imagine someone's coloratura could be so strong and their high notes so crystal clear. Adolph Green should not have been in this cast. He's plainly too old for the vocal demands. Nicolai Gedda, Christa Ludwig, Kurt Ollman; all of their voices are wonderful and perfect for their roles! If you like opera and Bernstein, you will find the best of all possible worlds in this! If 'Make Our Garden Grow' doesn't bring you to tears, CHECK YOUR PULSE!

I first heard this on UK radio at around 1988 and was rather impressed. A gloomy sort of storyline that was not gloomy at all because the music was fun. A lot of short songs linked by a very easy to listen to narration.

I had thought that this was the Barbican version, but now I assume that it will have been the Scottish Opera version of a year earlier. There is a big difference.

Recently I managed to purchase DVDs of Bernstein's Trouble In Tahiti and Candide and this is my comment re Candide.

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Search for a DVD of Candide there are several versions, each including a different range of songs and the songs have variations too. I felt a need for a comprehensive collection, ideally the one that I had heard on the radio because that was so marvellous, my motivation for trying to get a DVD. I found adverts for four different versions and none showed the song list.

What I purchased was a DGG VMP disk from the two 1989 Barbican concerts, London. Bernstein is conductor and Hadley and Anderson sing two of the leads. Direction is by Humphrey Burton who is an expert re Bernstein stuff. It is a concert hall rather than theatre performance, from websites this appears to be what is now understood to be the best way to stage the work.

At 147 minutes it is the longest of the disks that I noticed and so seemed likely to be the most comprehensive. Believing that it was likely to be a copy of what I had heard on the radio made this extra special. It turned out to be very different to what I had expected.

My first few viewings of this were nowhere near as fun as what I had hoped. The big reason why is that the narration has been changed, much longer and with a very different feel. The 116 minute Hollywood actor version might easily have most of the songs if the narration script is like the fun 1988 script, I would not know.

This is Bernstein a year before he died and he seems to have been taking an opportunity to tidy things up by giving a performance that explained what the story was actually about. It does that clearly, just the fun of the music falls flat, for me. Reviews of performances of Candide often agree with me on that. To me, this shows Candide to be about the modern world and I feel a need for an escape from the modern world. I admire the approach of that broadcast radio version.

For me to properly like my disk I would need just to hear the whole thing once or twice and then skip some of the non-music chapters, ie I would need an edited version, one with several chapters pruned out. I feel the same about A Hard Day's Night, a bigger pruning challenge. What I did was put the disk aside for a few months and then play it missing out most parts with Bernstein's technical comments, chapters 2, 30, 36 and 37 and the entries of the performers, chapters 1 and 34. If practical I would have preferred to edit out some fine detail in the narration but this was enough to allow the music to shine for me as it did at that radio broadcast.

This disk is more expensive than most DVDs that I purchase but this and the Hollywood were the cheapest for Candide when I purchased. I find Candide to be brilliant, just one could use a clear guide if one is hoping to purchase. There are web sites that give some information re key performances and audio recordings. I found there to be a shortfall re the DVD versions.

Admiring Leonard Bernstein both as a composer and conductor, I do like Candide very much. True it is a little episodic in the story structure, but there are a lot of charming, funny and moving scenes and the music is just wonderful. And this is a brilliant performance, while I do enjoy the Kristin Chenoweth/Thomas Allen performance it is this one that I consider the superior performance. Visually, everything is shot and designed beautifully, while the staging is always compelling and doesn't rely on too many gimmicks. The orchestra and chorus play and sing like angels, and while Leonard Bernstein's conducting is not as electric as it was earlier in his career it is still nuanced and emotionally charged with a great sense of a master who knew exactly what he was doing. The jokes and introductions he provided were droll and informative. The performances are right on the money. Jerry Hadley's Candide is moving and beautifully sung, his wide-eyed innocence is also very endearing. June Anderson gives one of her best performances, her singing as Cunegonde is as clear as a bell and while Glitter and be Gay is a lot of characterful fun Anderson succeeds in making the audience feel and empathise for her. Christa Ludwig is a delightful Old Lady, much better than Patti LaPune, the performance is full of life and charm while never resorting to being harsh(the twirling with the castanets was inspired) and I am Easily Assimilated shows some very intelligent(as ever from Ludwig) singing. Nicolai Gedda is past prime, but his musicianship and intelligence really shines, and his Governor is both distinguished and somewhat aristocratic. Kurt Ollman sings resonantly and is delightfully narcissistic. Adolph Green brings a great deal of showmanship in his roles, but if there was anything I didn't like so much it was that compared to the rest(and Thomas Allen, whose performance is the only asset I prefer in Chenoweth's production to here) his more Broadway-like voice was not as well-suited for a Candide as operatic as this one. Overall though, the performance is brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox