CANDIDE (Leonard Bernstein) Atlanta 2023 Deanna Breiwick, Jack Swanson, Kevin Burdette
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CANDIDE by Leonard Bernstein
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta Opera
March 10, 2023
CAST
Deanna Breiwick – Cunegonde
Jack Swanson – Candide
Kevin Burdette – Voltaire / Dr. Pangloss
Gretchen Krupp – Paquette
Deborah Bowman – Old Lady
Craig Irvin – Maximilian
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James Lowe – Conductor
Atlanta Opera Orchestra
Atlanta Opera Chorus
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Alison Moritz – Stage Director
Steven Kemp -Scenic Designer
Jennifer Moeller – Costume Designer
Thomas C. Hase – Lighting Designer
Ricardo Aponte – Choreographer
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Candide is an operetta with music composed by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics primarily by the poet Richard Wilbur, based on the 1759 novella of the same name by Voltaire. Other contributors to the text were John Latouche, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman, Stephen Sondheim, John Mauceri, John Wells, and Bernstein himself. Maurice Peress and Hershy Kay contributed orchestrations.
The operetta was first performed in 1956 with a libretto by Lillian Hellman, but since 1974 it has been generally performed with a book by Hugh Wheeler, which is more faithful to Voltaire’s novella. Although unsuccessful at its premiere, Candide has overcome the unenthusiastic reaction of early audiences and critics, and achieved more popularity.
Candide was originally conceived by Lillian Hellman as a play with incidental music in the style of her previous work, The Lark. Bernstein, however, was so excited about this idea that he convinced Hellman to do it as a “comic operetta”; she then wrote the original libretto for the operetta. Many lyricists worked on the show: first James Agee (whose work was ultimately not used), then Dorothy Parker, John Latouche and Richard Wilbur. In addition, the lyrics to “I Am Easily Assimilated” were done by Leonard and Felicia Bernstein, and Hellman wrote the words to “Eldorado”. Hershy Kay orchestrated all but the overture, which Bernstein did himself.
Synopsis
Original Broadway version (1956)
Act 1
In the country of Westphalia, Candide is about to be married to the lovely Cunegonde. Dr. Pangloss, Candide’s teacher, expounds his famous philosophy, to the effect that all is for the best (“The Best of All Possible Worlds”) The happy couple sing their marriage duet (“Oh, Happy We”), and the ceremony is about to take place (“Wedding Chorale”) when war breaks out between Westphalia and Hesse. Westphalia is destroyed, and Cunegonde is raped, multiple times, and seemingly killed. Candide takes comfort in the Panglossian doctrine (“It Must Be So”) and sets out on his journeys.
In the public square of Lisbon (“Lisbon Fair”), the Infant Casmira, a deranged mystic in the caravan of an Arab conjuror, predicts dire happenings (“The Prediction”), leaving the public in terror (“Pray For Us”). Candide discovers Pangloss, who has contracted syphilis, yet remains optimistic (“Dear Boy”*). The Inquisition appears, in the persons of two ancient Inquisitors and their lawyer, and many citizens are tried and sentenced to hang, including Candide and Dr. Pangloss (“The Inquisition: Auto-da-Fé”*). Suddenly an earthquake occurs, killing Dr. Pangloss, and Candide barely escapes.
Candide, faced with the loss of both Cunegonde and Dr. Pangloss, starts out for Paris. He is unable to reconcile Dr. Pangloss’s ideas with the bitter events that have occurred, but concludes that the fault must lie within himself, rather than in the philosophy of optimism (“It Must Be Me”).
Cunegonde turns up alive in Paris (“The Paris Waltz”), a demi-mondaine in a house shared by a Marquis and a Sultan. A party is in progress. Urged by the Old Lady, who serves as her duenna, Cunegonde arrays herself in her jewels (“Glitter and Be Gay”). Candide stumbles into the scene and is amazed to find Cunegonde still alive (“You Were Dead, You Know”). In a duel, he kills both the Marquis and the Sultan, and flees with Cunegonde, accompanied by the Old Lady.
They fall in with a band of devout Pilgrims on their way to the New World and sail with them (“Pilgrims’ Procession” / “Alleluia”). Arriving in Buenos Aires, the group is brought to the Governor’s Palace (where Maximilian is alive and working for the Governor), where all except Cunegonde and the Old Lady are immediately enslaved. A street cleaner appears in the person of the pessimistic Martin, warning Candide of the future. Candide and Maximilian are joyfully reunited, but when Candide states his intention to marry Cunegonde, Maximilian starts to strike him with a glove. Candide starts to strike him back, but before he actually does Maximilian drops, apparently dead. The Governor serenades Cunegonde (“My Love”) and she, abetted by the Old Lady, agrees to live in the palace (“I Am Easily Assimilated”). The Old Lady urges Candide to flee, but Candide, fired by reports of Eldorado from Martin, sets off to seek his fortune, planning to return for Cunegonde later (“Quartet Finale”).
Act 2
In the heat of Buenos Aires, Cunegonde, the Old Lady and the Governor display their fraying nerves (“Quiet”), and the Governor resolves to get rid of the tiresome ladies. Candide returns from Eldorado (“Eldorado”), his pockets full of gold and searches for Cunegonde. The Governor, however, has had both Cunegonde and the Old Lady tied up in sacks and carried to a boat in the harbor. He tells Candide that the women have sailed for Europe, and Candide eagerly purchases a leaky ship from the Governor and dashes off. As the Governor and his suite watch from his terrace, the ship with Candide and Martin casts off and almost immediately sinks (“Bon Voyage”).
Candide and Martin have been rescued from the ship, and are floating about the ocean on a raft. Martin is devoured by a shark, but Dr. Pangloss miraculously reappears. Candide is overjoyed to find his old teacher, and Pangloss sets about repairing the damage done to his philosophy by Candide’s experiences.
In a luxurious palazzo of Venice (“Money, Money, Money”), Cunegonde turns up as a scrubwoman and the Old Lady as a woman of fashion (Madame Sofronia) (“What’s the Use?”), both working as shills for Ferone, the owner of a gambling hall. Candide and Dr. Pangloss, both wearing masks, appear and are caught up by the merriment, the wine and the gambling. Candide is accosted by a masked Cunegonde and Old Lady, who try to steal his remaining gold (“The Venice Gavotte”), but recognizes Cunegonde when her mask falls off. His last hopes and dreams shattered, he drops his money at her feet and leaves. Cunegonde and the Old Lady are fired by Ferone and Pangloss is now penniless, having been completely swindled out of all his money.
With Candide now completely disillusioned, he and Pangloss return to the ruined Westphalia. Cunegonde, Maximilian (minus his teeth) and the Old Lady appear and within them a spark of optimism still flickers. Candide, however, has had enough of the foolish Panglossian ideal and tells them all that the only way to live is to try to make some sense of life (“Make Our Garden Grow”).
Bernstein “Final Revised Version” (1989)
Act 1
The operetta begins with an overture. The chorus welcomes everyone to Westphalia (“Westphalia Chorale”) and Voltaire begins to narrate his story. Candide, the illegitimate nephew of Baron Thunder-ten-Tronck, lives in the Baron’s castle Schloss Thunder-ten-Tronck. He is snubbed by the Baroness and bullied by her son Maximilian. Paquette, a very accommodating serving girl, also lives in the castle. However, Candide is in love with Cunegonde, the Baroness’ daughter as Maximilian, Candide, Cunegonde and Paquette find their happiness in life (“Life is Happiness Indeed”). The four discover that Dr. Pangloss, a man thought to be the world’s greatest philosopher, has taught them happiness (“The Best of All Possible Worlds”). The philosopher asks his four students to summarize what they have learned (“Universal Good”). When Cunegonde spies Dr. Pangloss being physically intimate with Paquette, he explains it away as being a “physical experiment”, and she decides to share the “experiment” with Candide. Professing their love to each other at a park, Candide and Cunegonde dream of what married life would look like (“Oh, Happy We”). The Baron, however, is angered at what Candide has done to Cunegonde, as he is a social inferior. Candide is promptly exiled, wandering alone with his faith and optimism to cling to (“It Must Be So”). He is then shanghaied by and into the Bulgar Army, which plots to “liberate” all of Westphalia. His escape attempt fails, and is recaptured by the Army. The Bulgar Army attacks Schloss Thunder-ten-Tronck and in the castle the Baron’s family prays as the chorus joins in (“Westphalia”). However, the Baron, the Baroness, Maximilian, Paquette, Pangloss and (after being repeatedly ravished by the Bulgar Army) Cunegonde are all killed in the attack (“Battle Music”). Candide returns to the castle’s ruins and searches for Cunegonde (“Candide’s Lament”).
Some time later, Candide becomes a beggar. He gives the last of his coins to Pangloss, who reveals that he was revived by an anatomist’s scalpel. He then tells Candide of his syphilis condition brought on by Paquette (“Dear Boy”). A merchant offers the two employment before sailing off to Lisbon. However, as they arrive, a volcano erupts and the ensuing earthquake results in the death of 30,000 people. Pangloss and Candide are blamed for the disaster, arrested as heretics and publicly tortured by order of the Grand Inquisitor. Pangloss is hanged and Candide is flogged (“Auto-da-Fé”). Candide eventually ends up in Paris, where Cunegonde shares her favors (on different mutually-agreed-upon days of the week) with wealthy Jew Don Issachar and the city’s Cardinal Archbishop (“The Paris Waltz”). She contemplates what she has done to survive while in Paris (“Glitter and Be Gay”). Candide finds Cunegonde and reunites with her (“You Were Dead, You Know”). However, the Old Lady, Cunegonde’s companion, forewarns Cunegonde and Candide of Issachar and the Archbishop’s arrival. Candide inadvertently kills both of them by stabbing them with a sword.
The three flee to Cadiz with Cunegonde’s jewels, where the Old Lady tells Candide and Cunegonde about her past. The jewels are stolen and the Old Lady offers to sing for their dinner (“I Am Easily Assimilated”). The French police arrive, intending to arrest Candide for murdering Don Issachar and the Archbishop. Accepting an offer to fight for the Jesuits in South America, Candide decides to take Cunegonde and the Old Lady to the New World, and the three begin their journey on a ship (“Quartet Finale”).
Act 2
In Montevideo, Maximilian and Paquette, now revived and disguised as slave girls, reunite. Soon after, Don Fernando d’Ibaraa y Figueroa y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza, the governor of the city, falls in love with Maximilian, but quickly realizes his mistake and sells him to a priest. Meanwhile, Candide, Cunegonde and the Old Lady also arrive in Montevideo, where the Governor falls in love with Cunegonde (“My Love”). The Old Lady convinces Cunegonde that her marriage to the governor will support her financially (“We Are Women”). Candide soon befriends Cacambo and accepts him as his valet. Convinced by the Old Lady that the police are still after Candide for the Archbishop’s murder, Candide and Cacambo flee Montevideo and eventually stumble upon a Jesuit camp and are joined by the Father and Mother Superiors (“The Pilgrims’ Procession – Alleluia”). Candide soon discovers that the Mother Superior is actually Paquette and the Father Superior is Maximilian. When Candide tells Maximilian that he will marry Cunegonde, however, Maximilian angrily challenges him to a fight. However, Maximilian is once again inadvertently stabbed to death by Candide. Candide is forced to flee into the jungle as a result.
Three years later, Cunegonde and the Old Lady discuss the miseries shared by the upper classes while the Governor does not want to hear their complaints (“Quiet”). Meanwhile, Candide and Cacambo are starving and lost in the jungles. Finding a boat in the ocean, they float downriver into a cavern for 24 hours until they finally reach Eldorado, the city of gold (“Introduction to Eldorado”). The two discover that the locals worship one god as opposed to three, palaces of science, rosewater and stones with cinnamon and clove scents. Dissatisfied without Cunegonde, Candide decides to leave. The locals think him foolish, but offer to help, giving him some of the town’s golden sheep and constructing a lift that will guide him, Cacambo and the sheep over the mountain (“The Ballad of Eldorado”). One by one, the sheep die until only two remain. Unwilling to go back to Montevideo, Candide gives Cacambo one of the golden sheep to ransom Cunegonde, telling them that they will meet again in Venice.
Arriving in Suriname, Candide meets Martin, a local pessimist. He shows him a slave with one hand and one foot lost while harvesting sugarcane, which is the result of Europeans eating sugar; Candide is unable to convince Martin otherwise (“Words, Words, Words”). Vanderdendur, a Dutch villain, offers his ship, the Santa Rosalia, in exchange for the golden sheep. Candide is excited when he is told that the Santa Rosalia is to depart for Venice. The locals and Vandendur wish Candide a safe journey to Venice (“Bon Voyage”). However, the ship sinks and Martin drowns as a result. After reuniting with his golden sheep, Candide is picked up by a galley, meeting five deposed kings. The galley is rowed by slaves, including Pangloss, revived once again. The kings say that they will live humbly, serving both god and men, and Pangloss leads their debate (“The Kings’ Barcarolle”).
The ship arrives in Venice, where the Carnival festival is taking place (“Money, Money, Money”). While the kings play roulette and baccarat, Candide searches for Cunegonde. Maximilian, revived once again, is now the corrupt Prefect of Police and the town’s leader. Paquette is now the town’s reigning prostitute. Cunegonde and the Old Lady are employed to encourage the gamblers (“What’s the Use?”). Pangloss celebrates a victory after winning roulette and spends his money on the other ladies (“The Venice Gavotte”). Candide, however, masked for the Carnival, is accosted by Cunegonde and the Old Lady (both of whom are also masked), who try to swindle him out of his money. During the exchange, all the masks come off and they are horrified to recognize each other. Seeing what Cunegonde has become, Candide’s image of and belief in her is shattered (“Nothing More Than This”). Candide does not speak for several days; with what little money they have left, they purchase a small farm outside Venice and the chorus says that life is just life and paradise is nothing (“Universal Good”). Candide finally speaks and resolves to marry Cunegonde (“Make Our Garden Grow”).
Quoted from Wikipedia