Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Program Order for Concert (Draft)

Songs from the Gardener – Callaway

1. Come to My Lake (chorus)

2. My Heart, Bird of the Wilderness (solo)

3. Unspoken Things (chorus)

4. Speak to Me, My Love (solo)

5. You Are the Evening Cloud (chorus)

The Voyage of Candide, Act I

1. Overture (piano) – Bernstein

2. (Narration: Introduction of the characters): Life Is Happiness Indeed – Bernstein

3. (Narration: Pangloss’ philosophy): The Best of All Possible Worlds – Bernstein

4. (Narration: Everyone dies in the war): It Must Be So – Bernstein

5. (Narration: Candide goes to Russia): Coronation Scene – Mussorgsky

6. (Narration: Candide goes to Spain & meets Pangloss again): March of the Toreadors – Bizet

Intermission

The Voyage of Candide, Act II

7. (Narration: Earthquake, auto-da-fé, Candide flogged, Pangloss hanged): This World – Bernstein

8. (Narration: Candide goes to Paris & finds Cunegonde): Glitter and Be Gay (solo) – Bernstein

9. (Narration: Candide & Cunegonde join a group of pilgrims on a journey to the New World): Isis und Osiris – Mozart

10. (Narration: Decadent lifestyle of the colonists): The Infernal Gallop (Cancan) – Offenbach

11. (Narration: Meanwhile, the natives are enslaved): Va Pensiero – Verdi

12. (Narration: Everything falls apart & they all end up back on a small farm in Westphalia): Make Our Garden Grow – Bernstein

Background of the Week: Candide on Stage

From “Bernstein’s Studio,” www.leonardbernstein.com, copyright 19990-2001 Primate, LLC

If there were a special prize for "most labored-over show in theater history," the honor would most certainly go to Candide. Life has imitated art: the show's forty-four-year saga resembles Voltaire's picaresque narrative itself, as numerous brilliant minds have endeavored gallantly to create the "Best of all Possible" shows.

In 1953, the renowned playwright Lillian Hellman proposed to Leonard Bernstein that they adapt Voltaire's Candide for the musical theater. Voltaire's novella of 1758 satirized the fashionable philosophies of his day and, especially, the Catholic Church, whose Inquisition routinely tortured and killed "heretics" in a ghastly event known as an "Auto da Fé" ("act of faith"). Hellman observed a sinister parallel between the Inquisition's church-sponsored purges and the "Washington Witch Trials" being waged by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Fueled by rage and indignation, she began her adaptation of Voltaire's book. John LaTouche was engaged as initial lyricist, while Bernstein made numerous musical sketches. Before long, poet Richard Wilbur replaced LaTouche. Hellman, Bernstein and Wilbur worked periodically over the next two years but labored in earnest through 1956. By October, Candide was ready for performances in Boston. At some point during those Boston performances, Dorothy Parker contributed lyrics to "The Venice Gavotte," while Bernstein and Hellman had also added lyrics of their own to other numbers. The lyrics credits were already beginning to mount up.

The production opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York on December 1, 1956, to mixed reviews. Hellman's satire was thought cerebral and heavy-handed; the sophistication of the music (much of it in a flashy operetta style) did not appeal to audiences. The production closed on February 2, 1957. Fortunately, Columbia Records had recorded the original cast album. The music continued to thrive; the recording sold well and Bernstein's score gained a sort of cult status.

In 1958, a full-scale production in London, England, was prepared, with a revised book credited to Lillian Hellman assisted by Michael Stewart, and one new musical number ("We Are Women," a duet for Cunegonde and the Old Lady, with lyrics by Leonard Bernstein). Candide opened at the Saville Theater in London on April 30, 1959. In 1971 the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Association mounted a production which attempted a complete revision of Hellman's book, as well as a substantial shuffling of musical numbers. This version was performed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. It is probably at this time that Mr. Bernstein wrote the song "Words, Words, Words," which includes a bitter reprise of "The Best of All Possible Worlds." Though this production was not successful, it seems to have stirred up interest in Candide. In 1973, Harold Prince and Hugh Wheeler devised a new small-scale version which won the support of Lillian Hellman, who at this time withdrew her original adaptation of Voltaire. Thus, the 1956 version of Candide is no longer available for performance.

This new version opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Chelsea Theater in December, 1973. Harold Prince directed a freewheeling single-act production, with some new lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a thirteen-instrument orchestration by Hershy Kay. When this production moved to the Broadway Theater in Manhattan, the theater itself was rebuilt from the inside out: walkways and platforms were constructed around the auditorium, and the audience sat on wooden benches, right in the middle of the action. The audience was even invited to eat peanuts during the show, adding to the circus-like atmosphere. The young and lively cast, and spirited musical direction by John Mauceri, helped make this production Candide's first critical and popular success. Known as the "Chelsea" version, this is the earliest version of Candide available for performance. (Saga continued next week...)

"Shameless Plugs"

♫ Choralfest is Coming! The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra's Second Annual Berkeley Choral Festival, benefiting the Musicians' Pension Fund, will take place Tuesday, March 4, 2003, 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. Conducted by Vance George (SF Symphony Chorus) and hosted by Kent Nagano, the concert will feature the Berkeley Symphony, plus the Bella Musica Chorus, Berkeley Community Chorus, Chancel Choir of First Congregational Church, Oakland Symphony Chorus, UC Berkeley Chorus, UC Alumni Chorus, and members of the SF Gay Men’s' Chorus. Over 250 Voices & Musicians on stage will perform Handel’s Royal Fireworks and Zadok, the Priest, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse, and Fauré’s Requiem. Advance tickets are available from participants for $40/$30/$20 (regularly $49/$37/$25), or are $12 for Students w/ID and children.

♫ Duruflé Requiem, Revisited. Correction to time for Duruflé Requiem rehearsals: Wednesday evenings from 8:30-9:30 pm at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Avenue. Call director Leslie Moorjani at 510-843-7745 for more information.