Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Upcoming: Annual Singalong Fundraiser for Bella Musica

· What: J. S. Bach Magnificat; Antonio Vivaldi Gloria

· When: Saturday, March 15

· Where: The Piano Club, 2724 Haste St., Berkeley

· Why: It’s a wonderful excuse to sing great music just for fun – no rehearsals, no auditions, just show up and sing – while helping to keep the Bella Musica Chorus & Orchestra alive!

Background of the Week: Candide on Stage, Part II (from Broadway to Opera and back again)

(The many permutations of Candide, continued from last week.)

In October 1982, the New York City Opera (Beverly Sills, general manager) presented Candide in its first version for an opera house. This was a full-length, two-act production, with much music that had been cut in 1973 reinstated by John Mauceri under Mr. Bernstein's supervision. Hugh Wheeler wrote several new scenes, adapted from Voltaire, and once again Harold Prince directed. In 1988, as music director of the Scottish Opera in Glasgow, John Mauceri took the opportunity to examine Candide once more with a production that included even more music, including a new "Entr'acte" and a recurring chorale, "Universal Good," created by Mr. Bernstein from a long-discarded aria. Jonathan Miller and John Wells directed and further adapted Hugh Wheeler's script.

After Mr. Bernstein had attended the final rehearsals and the opening in Glasgow, as well as a production later in the season devised by Jonathan Miller for the Old Vic in London, he decided the time had come to re-examine Candide himself. Taking the Scottish Opera version as a base, he restored, among other things, two dozen bars in the “Auto-da-Fé,” shuffled the order in the second act, and touched up the orchestration throughout. For example, he altered the endings of several numbers, including “Glitter and Be Gay,” where he placed chords on off-beats in the manner of Tchaikovsky, whose Fourth Symphony he had just conducted. The London Symphony Orchestra presented this revised and renewed version of Candide in concert format at the Barbican Centre, London, England, in December 1989 (recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and videotaped by Video Music Productions). Leonard Bernstein and John Wells created a narration, performed by Adolph Green in the Pangloss/Voltaire role, which moved the action swiftly from one musical number to the next.

Candide continues still. In 1994 Harold Prince directed the New York City Opera version at the Chicago Lyric Opera, and in 1997 Prince took Candide back to Broadway, more than twenty years after its last Broadway incarnation. This was also the 1982 New York City Opera version, with yet more lyrics supplemented by Stephen Sondheim. The engraving of the Scottish Opera version became available from Boosey & Hawkes in 1994, both as piano/vocal and full scores (with engraved orchestral parts). While this publication encompasses the complete score, it by no means reflects a final, frozen show. Like its hero, Candide is perhaps destined never to find its perfect form and function. In the end, that may prove philosophically appropriate.

"Shameless Plugs"

♫ Sounds New ensemble in concert: Ann Callaway's 1997 piece for solo flute, "Messenger," premieres this Sunday, February 23, at 7:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington. Plenty of free parking available; suggested donation $15/10. Also, works by Herb Bielawa, Allen Brings, Delvyn Case, Richard Festinger, Andrea Clearfield, Yahuda Yannay, & Elliott Schwartz. (www.SoundsNewUS.org)

♫ “A Dream within a Dream” by Ann Callaway, performed by Richard Mix, bass, and Teresa McCullough, piano, in a concert celebrating area composers. Santa Clara University, Saturday, March 1, 8:00PM in the Center for Performing Arts. Map available at www.scu.edu/map/parking/directions.cfm

♫ Choral Festival: The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra’s Second Annual Choral Festival, benefiting the Musician’s Pension Fund. Tuesday, March 4, 2003 at 8:00 PM in Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. Conducted by Vance George and hosted by Kent Nagano, the concert features over 250 vocal and instrumental musicians from the Berkeley Symphony, Bella Musica, Berkeley Community Chorus, UC Alumni Chorus, and many other local choruses. Music includes Handel’s Royal Fireworks and Zadok, the Priest, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse, and Fauré’s Requiem. Advance tickets available from participants for $40/$30/$20 ($12 for students & children).