78° Festival MMF
Opera
Candide
by Leonard Bernstein
Candide
Comic opera in two acts
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Libretto by Hugh Wheeler
based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire
New production
Sung in English. Surtitles in Italian and English.
Total duration: 2 hours and 40 minutes
First part - 75 minutes
Interval - 25 minutes
Second part - 60 minutes
Artists
Conductor
John Axelrod
Director
Francesco Micheli
Scenes
Federica Parolini
Costumes
Daniela Cernigliaro
Light design
Angelo Linzalata
Choreographic movements
Alfonso Cayetano
Orchestra and Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Danza
John Axelrod
Director
Francesco Micheli
Scenes
Federica Parolini
Costumes
Daniela Cernigliaro
Light design
Angelo Linzalata
Choreographic movements
Alfonso Cayetano
Orchestra and Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Danza
Voltaire
Lella Costa
Candide
Keith Jameson
Cunegonde
Laura Claycomb
Dr. Pangloss/Martin
Richard Suart
The old lady
Anja Silja
Maximilian
Gary Griffiths
Paquette
Jessica Renfro
The Captain/The Governor/Vanderdendur/Crook
Chris Merritt
Ragotski/Croupier
Christopher Lemmings
Inquisitor/Charles Edward
Timothy Martin
Inquisitor/Hermann Augustus
Luca Casalin
Inquisitor/Tsar Ivan
Hector Guedes
Inquisitor/Sultan Achmet
Christopher Turner
Inquisitor/Stanislaus
Alessandro Calamai
Cacambo
Gianluca di Lauro
Lella Costa
Candide
Keith Jameson
Cunegonde
Laura Claycomb
Dr. Pangloss/Martin
Richard Suart
The old lady
Anja Silja
Maximilian
Gary Griffiths
Paquette
Jessica Renfro
The Captain/The Governor/Vanderdendur/Crook
Chris Merritt
Ragotski/Croupier
Christopher Lemmings
Inquisitor/Charles Edward
Timothy Martin
Inquisitor/Hermann Augustus
Luca Casalin
Inquisitor/Tsar Ivan
Hector Guedes
Inquisitor/Sultan Achmet
Christopher Turner
Inquisitor/Stanislaus
Alessandro Calamai
Cacambo
Gianluca di Lauro
Approfondimenti
VIDEO
Leonard Bernstein's candide at the Opera di Firenze
ACT I
The baron Thunder-ten-Tronck lives in his castle in Westphalia together with his wife and his children Maximilian and Cunegonde, his illegitimate nephew Candide and the servant, Paquette. Having been convinced by the philosopher Pangloss that they are happy, they live a life without cares. Candide and his cousin Cunegonde are in love, but since he is considered socially inferior, he is banished and forced to enroll in the Bulgar Army who attack and kill the inhabitants of the castle. Later the young man encounters Pangloss who recounts that he was brought back to life by an anatomist’s scalpel, and even though he is now a beggar, he has not lost his optimism. The two set sail for Lisbon, but upon arriving, the city is destroyed by a volcanic eruption and earthquake and they are tried for heresy, resulting in Pangloss being hanged and Candide flogged. Then he goes to Paris, where surprisingly he finds Cunegonde and after killing the girl's two suitors, escapes with her and the Old Lady to Cadice where they board a ship bound for the New World.
ACT II
The three fugitives arrive in Buenos Aires at the same time that Maximilian and Paquette arrive, miraculously revived and dressed as slaves. The Governor declares his love to Cunegonde and Maximilian while Candide, being chased by the police, escapes into the jungle with the half-breed Cacambo. Here he accidentally stabs Maximilian before discovering the legendary El Dorado. After sending Cacambo to Buenos Aires with a golden sheep to ransom Cunegonde, Candide arrives in Suriname and meets the pessimist Martin and Vanderdendur, who offers him a ship in exchange for his last golden sheep. The ship sinks but he is saved by another ship on its way to Venice with on board five dethroned kings and Pangloss, returned to life once again. Venice is wild with the Carnival and Cunegonde, together with the Old Lady, entertain the players at the Casino. Candide, even though he feels disillusioned by her behavior, returns to a farm in Westphalia and asks her to marry him.
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on August 25, 1918 and began studying the piano at ten. He attended Harvard University and even before graduating, made his conducting debut with his music for a production of Aristophanes’ play The Birds. He continued his studies at the Berkshire Music Center founded by Serge Koussevitzky, and later became his assistant. In 1943 he was appointed assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic, making his debut at Carnegie Hall on November 14 when he was called to substitute an ailing Bruno Walter. From 1945 through 1947 he was the Music Director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra, and from 1958 to 1969
he held the same position at the New York Philharmonic where he was later made Honorary Director. He was the first American conductor to lead the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, and is the composer of numerous compositions for orchestra and for musical theater, such as Candide (1956), Wonderful Town(1953) and West Side Story (1957).
JOHN AXELROD
Born in Houston in 1966, at sixteen he was accepted to follow Leonard Bernstein during the production of his final opera, A Quiet Place. After graduating cum laude from St. John’s School, in 1988 he completed a Bachelor's Degree in Music from Harvard University and later studied conducting with Ilya Musin at the State Conservatory of St. Petersburg. In 1996 he founded the Orchestra X in Houston, and three years later became the assistant to Christoph Eschenbach. Chief Conductor of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester (2004-2009) and Musical Director of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire (2009-2013), in 2011 he was invited first as Principal Conductor and then as Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano. Since 2014 he is the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Real Orquestra Sinfónica of Seville.
FRANCESCO MICHELI
Born in Bergamo in 1972, after a degree in Modern Letters, he took a diploma at the Scuola d’arte Drammatica Paolo Grassi in Milan. Assistant director for regional opera companies in Tuscany and Lombardy and for the Wexford Festival Opera, in 1997 he made his debut with the opera La Cantarina by Niccolò Piccinni produced for the Museum of the Teatro alla Scala. He has worked with the As.Li.Co and staged productions of Roméo et Juliette at the Arena di Verona, La Bohème e Otello at Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Adriana Lecouvreur at the Opéra de Nice. Librettist and director of Alice nel paese delle meraviglie e I musicanti di Brema, he won the Premio Abbiati in 2009 for Bianco, Rosso e Verdi, and since 2012 he is the Artistic Director of the Sferisterio di Macerata.