Bernstein's "Candide"

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1956, “Candide,” a 20th century musical based on an 18th century satire by the French writer Voltaire, opened on Broadway in New York City.

The libretto was by the successful playwright Lillian Hellman. The song lyrics were crafted by Richard Wilbur, one of America’s finest poets. The stage direction was by Sir Tyrone Guthrie, a legendary name in British theater. The music was by Leonard Bernstein.

Maybe it was a case of too much of a good thing: “Candide” closed after just two months. Some said the show’s satire went over the heads of the audience, others that the poor box office was due to the lack of a big Broadway star in the original cast.

Early in 1957, shortly before the initial run of “Candide” closed, Bernstein conducted its overture at Carnegie Hall as part of a New York Philharmonic concert—and that bit of the show, at least, became an instant and lasting success.

Bernstein tinkered with the rest of “Candide” right up to his death in 1990, generating several performing versions of his problematic musical. With the benefit of hindsight, many critics now regard “Candide” as Bernstein’s masterpiece.

Music Played in Today's Program

Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990) Candide soloists; London Symphony; Leonard Bernstein, cond. DG 429 734

On This Day

Births

• 1709 - German composer Franz Xaver Richter, probably in Holleschau, Moravia;

• 1823 - French opera composer Ernest (Louise-Etienne-Ernest) Reyer, in Marseilles; An ardent admirer of Wagner, Ernest Reyer added a Germanic "-er" to his real last name "Rey"; His most famous opera is "Sigurd"(1884), a retelling of the Siegfried story familiar from Wagner's "Ring" cycle, but set in the style of a French grand opera;

• 1847 - Norwegian composer and pianist Agathe Backer-Grondahl, in Holmestrand;

Deaths

• 1707 - British composer and organist Jeremiah Clarke, age c. 33, commits suicide in London, supposedly after an unhappy love affair; This date is according to the Julian "Old Style" calendar still in use in England that year (Gregorian date: Dec. 12);

• 1950 - Anglo-Irish composer Ernest John Moeran, age 55, near Kenmare, Ireland;

Premieres

• 1832 - Mendelssohn: Overture, "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage," in Berlin;

• 1902 - Nielsen: Symphony No. 2 ("The Four Temperaments") in Copenhagen;

• 1924 - Gershwin: musical "Lady, Be Good," at the Liberty Theater in New York City; This show featured Fred and Adele Astaire and included the classic Gershwin songs "Fascinating Rhythm," "Oh, Lady Be Good," and "The Half of It, Dearie, Blues";

• 1934 - Ravel: "Don Quichotte à Dulcinée," his last work, in Paris at a Colonne Concert;

• 1935 - Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2, by the Madrid Symphony, with the Spanish conductor Enrique Fernández Arbós and the French violinist Robert Soëtens;

• 1937 - Vaughan Williams: one-act opera "Riders to the Sea," in London;

• 1944 - Bartók: "Concerto for Orchestra," by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting; Bartók composed a revised and more dramatic ending for this work this work soon after the Boston premiere (The original ending heard at the premiere was judged too perfunctory and abrupt);

• 1944 - Gruenberg: Violin Concerto, Op. 47, by violinist Jascha Heifetz, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1951 - Britten: opera, "Billy Budd" (libretto by E.M. Forester, after Hermann Melville), in London, at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, with the composer conducting;

• 1956 - Bernstein: musical "Candide" (original version) at Martin Beck Theater in New York City; A trial run opened at the Colonial Theater in Boston on October 29, 1956; Bernstein revised the work in 1973 (Chelsea Theater version), 1982 (New York City Opera version), 1988 ("opera house" version), and 1989 ("concert version" with narrator);

• 1957 - Stravinsky: ballet "Agon," at the New York City Ballet, choreographed by Georges Balanchine; The first concert performance of Stravinsky's ballet score occurred on June 17, 1957, at a 75th birthday concert for Stravinsky in Los Angeles conducted by Robert Craft;

• 1977 - Lukas Foss: "American Cantata," in New York City;

Others

• 1736 - J.S. Bach gives an organ recital at the Frauenkirche in Dresden;

• 1822 - The 11 year-old pianist Franz Liszt performs for the first time in Vienna at that city's town hall; His first public appearance ever had occurred in October of 1820, in Oedenberg, when he was 9 years old;

• 1859 - The French Opera House opens in New Orleans with Rossini's "William Tell";

• 1886 - Wagner's opera "Tristan und Isolde" receives its American premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with Wagner's protégé, Anton Seidl, conducting;