Candide (operetta)

Candide is a comic operetta by Leonard Bernstein, based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire. It has existed in many versions but is now generally performed with a book by Hugh Wheeler. The primary lyricist was Richard Wilbur. Other contributors to the text were John Latouche, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman, Stephen Sondheim, and Leonard Bernstein. Hershy Kay and John Mauceri contributed orchestrations.

Final Acceptance

Despite the initial reaction, Candide has achieved an enormous popularity. It is very popular among major music schools as a student show because of its wonderful music and the spectacular opportunities it offers to talented student singers. Its overture—recognizable to those of a certain age as the theme song to the Dick Cavett show (and still used today to herald Cavett onstage during his talk-show guest-spots) —is played in concert halls all over the world on a regular basis. It is widely regarded as representative of Leonard Bernstein's finest theatrical work. Because of its sparkle, wit, breadth of emotion and musical impact, Candide is often cited as one of the best musical works for the stage to come out of the 20th century.

Related Topics:
Its overture - Dick Cavett

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