Ravinia 2019, Issue 7, Week 13

Bernstein: 10 versions in all, including the 1974 Broadway revival and 1982 New York City Opera production. Lillian Hellman felt marginalized in these later productions, a disregard that reached a boiling point in late 1983: “I am sorry and I am sure you are that we have come to a bad place,” Hellman wrote on October 6. Bernstein responded with compassion and reason: “I am touched that you still feel so close to this work after all its pain- ful history, but the fact is that Candide is nei- ther yours nor mine. It is now the work of what seems to be an ever-increasing body of collabo- rators.” Throughout the revisions, Candide had acquired supplemental lyrics by Stephen Sond- heim and John Wells, who also assisted with the narrative, and additional orchestrations by John Mauceri. Toward the end of his life, Bernstein produced a new version of Candide for the Scot- tish Opera, which opened at the Theatre Royale in Glasgow on May 17, 1988. That production moved to The Old Vic in London on Decem- ber 6, 1988, and formed the basis of Bernstein’s 1989 recording, which is now known as the “fi- nal revised version.” SYNOPSIS Overture. The jaunty overture immediately conjures an optimistic atmosphere with its pre- view of themes from the operetta. Act One. The action opens inWestphalia, an iso- lated, primitive country whose residents speak an unintelligible dialect. The illegitimate neph- ew of Baron Thunder-ten-Tronck, Candide suf- fers the disdain of the Baron, Baroness, and their pompous son Maximilian. He has fallen in love with their daughter, the lovely ingénue Cune- gonde, and she apparently returns his affection. Dr. Pangloss has imparted a naive philosophy of happiness and goodness on Maximilian and Cunegonde. When the Baron and Baroness dis- cover Candide and Cunegonde’s plans to marry, they expel the socially inferior young man from their land. Candide remains optimistic that he will eventually reunite with Cunegonde. While sleeping in the field, Candide is discov- ered by a Bulgar Army, which presses him into service. The Bulgars declare war on the Abars and stage a battle in Westphalia. The Thun- der-ten-Tronck castle is attacked and the entire family, along with the philosopher-tutor Pan- gloss and servant-girl Paquette, are reportedly slaughtered. Candide searches for Cunegonde’s body. Wandering through the countryside, Candide gives a few coins to a syphilis-ridden beggar who has lost several fingers to his disease. It is Pangloss, who miraculously revived during the autopsy. They join the crew of a merchant ship. As they approach Lisbon, a massive earthquake kills 30,000 residents. Pangloss and Candide are arrested as heretics for asserting that the trage- dy was for the best in this “best of all possible worlds,” and come before the Grand Inquisitor. Condemned to public torture—the auto-da-fé — Pangloss is hanged and Candide flogged. A mysterious beauty appears in Paris and be- comes the shared consort of Don Issachar and the Cardinal Archbishop. Bedecked in jewels, the young woman reminds herself to “glitter and be gay.” When Candide arrives in Paris, he rec- ognizes the beauty as his beloved Cunegonde. The Old Lady warns of the arrival of Don Is- sachar and the Cardinal Archbishop. In the me- lee that follows, Cunegonde stabs both to death. Candide, Cunegonde, and the Old Lady escape to Cádiz, Spain, with the jewels. The Old Lady recounts her difficult life as the illegitimate child of a Polish pope who has suffered abuse throughout her life. When a band of robbers steals the jewels, the Old Lady offers to sing for the now penniless band’s supper. The Paris po- lice discover the murderers in Spain. Candide escapes by agreeing to fight for the Jesuits in the New World. Act Two. Candide, Cunegonde, and the Old Lady arrive in Buenos Aires. The trio reunite with Maximilian and Paquette, also inexplica- bly restored to life, who are masquerading as slave girls. The mustachioed Governor of Bue- nos Aires—Don Fernando d’Ibaraa y Figueroa y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza—falls in love with Maximilian but, realizing his error, re- directs his affections to Cunegonde. Learning that the police have followed him to South America, Candide disappears into the jungle with his faithful companion Cacambo. They stumble upon a Jesuit encampment led by a Mother Superior (Paquette) and Father Superior (Maximilian) and are encouraged to join their flock of believers. Candide informs Maximilian that Cunegonde is still alive and that his intends to marry her. Maximilian becomes enraged, and Candide accidently stabs him to death. Three years later, Cunegonde and the Old Lady are living in the governor’s palace, “lamenting” their fate among the rich and privileged. Can- dide and Cacambo, meanwhile, are lost in the jungle when they stagger into a wondrous, iso- lated valley—Eldorado—filled with precious stones, gold dust, and spices. Candide cannot enjoy these marvels without Cunegonde. He convinces the residents of Eldorado to give him two golden sheep adorned with jewels in or- der to ransom Cunegonde. Cacambo takes one sheep to Buenos Aires while the fugitive Can- dide sails to the Dutch colony in Surinam, en route to Venice, with the other. Candide meets the “professional pessimist” Martin, who shows him a slave whose hand and foot have been cut off by a sugar plantation owner—the cruel cost of eating sugar in Europe. The local Dutchman Vanderdendur offers Can- dide the ship Santa Rosalia in exchange for the golden sheep. Setting sail for Venice, the ship almost immediately sinks, drowning Martin and Vanderdendur. Candide recovers his golden sheep mid-ocean and hitches a ride in a galley with five penitent deposed kings and a wretch- ed slave rowing the boat, who turns out to be Pangloss. The galley arrives in Venice during Carnival season. All activity seems focused on the shim- mering, bustling casino. Paquette and Maximil- ian preside as the leading prostitute and corrupt chief of police. Cunegonde and the Old Lady encourage the gamblers to bet while rigging the roulette wheel. Pangloss wins big then imme- diately spends his profits on prostitutes. In his disillusionment, Candide grows silent. The group buys a small farm outside Venice with their remaining money but it is no para- dise. Cunegonde and the Old Lady reveal the unpleasant side of their personalities. Pangloss longs to teach at a German university. Paquette continues her life of a prostitute. Candide pon- ders their fates: They are neither who they were before nor who they wanted to be. Candide asks Cunegonde to marry him. –Program notes © 2019 Todd E. Sullivan THE KNIGHTS ERIC and COLIN JACOBSEN, artistic directors The Knights’ roster and biographies appear on page 93 . Original cast album of Candide (1956) AUGUST 26 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 97