Candide
Composer: Leonard Bernstein
Librettist: Lillian Hellman, Richard Wilbur
Company: Glimmerglass Festival
Performance Dates | |
---|---|
Saturday, July 08, 2023 | |
Monday, July 10, 2023 | Matinee |
Sunday, July 16, 2023 | Matinee |
Tuesday, July 25, 2023 | Matinee |
Thursday, July 27, 2023 | |
Saturday, July 29, 2023 | Matinee |
Saturday, August 05, 2023 | |
Monday, August 07, 2023 | Matinee |
Sunday, August 13, 2023 | Matinee |
Tuesday, August 15, 2023 | Matinee |
Friday, August 18, 2023 | |
Sunday, August 20, 2023 | Matinee |
Synopsis
Candide is an operetta with music composed by Leonard Bernstein, based on the 1759 novella of the same name by Voltaire. 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 novel. The primary lyricist was the poet Richard Wilbur. 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. Although unsuccessful at its premiere, Candide has now overcome the unenthusiastic reaction of early audiences and critics and achieved more popularity. It is used in some music schools as a student show because of the quality of its music and the opportunities it offers to student singers. The first such campus performance was at Indiana University in December 1957.