Candide (1974 Broadway Revival Cast)
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDFormat: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2006-08-29
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Overture
- Life Is Happiness Indeed/Parade
- The Best Of All Possible Worlds
- Oh Happy We
- It Must Be So
- O Miserere
- Oh Happy We (Reprise)
- The Rich Jew And The Grand Inquisitor
- Glitter And Be Gay
- Auto Da Fe (What A Day)
- This World
- You Were Dead, You Know
- The Rich Jew And The Grand Inquisitor (Dialogue)
- Spanish Music
- I'm Easily Assimilated
- I'm Easily Assimilated (Reprise)
- My Love
- Barcarolle (Upon A Ship At Sea)
- Alleluia
- Sheep's Song
- Bon Voyage
- The Beast Of All Possible Worlds (Reprise)
- You WEre Dead, You Know (Reprise)
- Barcarolle (Reprise)/The Wisest Man In The World
- Finale: Make Our Garden Grow
Music reviews of Candide (1974 Broadway Revival Cast)
Music Review: VULGAR AND OFFENSIVE . . . FAR FROM THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE VERSIONS . . .
Rating: 2 Stars
Author's Comment, February 16, 2007: It appears that mine is the only negative review of this recording, and that the majority who read it did not find it helpful. I guess that's what happens when one expresses a minority opinion. I would like to quote from Andrew Porter's notes for the composer's 1991 recording of the final revised edition: In 1973 and 1982, in the Chelsea and the City Opera versions, not just the spirit of the work but also its musical structure was distorted. Songs were assigned to the wrong characters. Numbers were shuffled and placed in new contexts. The recurrences and refrains, the basic emotional structure which finds reflection in the musical structure, were largly disregarded. [Musical director] Mauceri wrote later: "This CANDIDE had turned into one long joke. The heart, the tears and the faith - all clearly part of Voltaire's reason for writing CANDIDE - were nowhere to be found in the post-Lillian Hellman versions. Also, the music was all out of order."
My opinion still stands, and I wholeheartedly recommend Bernstein's Deutsche Grammophon release as the authoritative recording of this "Best of All Possible Broadway Scores."
Now, back to my original September 2, 2006 review:
"Can one have too many versions of Bernstein's Broadway masterpiece? I think not." That's how I ended my July 22 review of the 1997 Broadway revival of CANDIDE. And as much as it pains me to admit it, I was wrong. Here's one recording that should be avoided unless you absolutely HAVE to have every conceivable recording of the show -- that is, if you're like me.
CANDIDE is one of my top two or three favorite shows, having fallen in love with the "Original" Original Cast Recording way back in 1957. While I was living in California, I committed the mortal sin of missing the 1966 UCLA Production (original book, before all the revisions). Directed by Gordon Davidson, this was the first major US production since the show's 1956 Broadway premiere. The "Chelsea" version " . . . opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Chelsea Theater in December, 1973. Harold Prince directed a free-wheeling single-act production, which included some new lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a thirteen-instrument orchestration by Hershy Kay." (from Bernstein's Studio) In 1982 Len Jenkin created a new book for the Guthrie Theatre's thrust stage, a production I found enthralling and beautifully sung. In October of the same year, the New York City Opera presented yet another version. Then there is the Scottish Opera version of 1989, and, finally, the 1997 Broadway revival which is a "hybrid" of all the previous versions. I sang with the Minnesota Chorale in the Minnesota Orchestra's concert version some time in the 90s. I forget which year it was, and I have no idea which version we used. But I'm positive there was nothing about Candide's being deflowered - a totally unnecessary and vulgar scene inserted into the "Chelsea" version.
But back to this recording, the "Chelsea" version. Acclaimed for its innovative staging (". . . 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. . . .") [--Bernstein's Studio] Hugh Wheeler jettisoned ". . . Hellman's leaden libretto, loaded with allusions to the McCarthy-era witch hunt . . . in favor of a new lighter book . . ." (CD notes) And herein lies the problem. The text is vulgar, tasteless, offensive, and borders on the obscene. Naturally, the audience loved it, and the show ran for 704 performances.
A great deal of music was eliminated for this version, and what remains is not terribly well sung. Much of the dialogue is included on the disc, and instead of naïve teenagers, Candide (Mark Baker) and Cunegonde (Maureen Brennan) come across as merely stupid. The Old Lady (June Gable) not only has to suffer an abbreviated version of "I Am So Easily Assimilated," she also has to deliver an embarrassing -- and racially offensive -- account of how she lost her buttock. But worst of all is Lewis J. Stadlen who is overbearingly irritating as the narrator, switching voices between Voltaire, Pangloss, and the Governor. And what's with his Mel Brooks' "2000 Year Old Man" schtick as "The Wisest Man in the World"? Come on!!! And to top it all off, the sound is quite harsh and grating, much like Sony Broadway's pre-Direct Stream Digital remastering.
All-in-all, very disappointing. Sony/BMG would have done better to resurrect Marc Blitzstein's REGINA or a host of "lost" RCA original cast recordings.
Description of Candide (1974 Broadway Revival Cast)
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