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Martin Handley presents Leonard Bernstein's comic operetta Candide, recorded at London's Coliseum in July. Robert Carsen's controversial production for English National Opera updates Voltaire's savage 18th century satire from Europe to the Unites States of the 1950s, revealing the dystopian reality of the American Dream.

7.20 Interval: Martin Handley explores the themes of the opera with its director and Christopher Bigsby, Professor of American Studies at UEA.

7.35 Candide, Act 2

Voltaire/Pangloss/Martin: Alex Jennings
Candide: Toby Spence (tenor)
Cunegonde: Marnie Breckenridge (soprano)
Old Lady: Beverley Klein (mezzo-soprano)
Grand Inquisitor/Captain/Governor: Bonaventura Bottone
Paquette: Mairéad Buicke (soprano)
Maximilian: Mark Stone
Cacambo: Ferlyn Brass
Rumon Gamba: Conductor
Orchestra and Chorus of English National Opera

SYNOPSIS:
Candide, a young man from Westphalia, is in love with Cunegonde, daughter of the local baron. He is a loyal follower of the teachings of his tutor, Dr Pangloss, who believes ‘Everything that is, is planned, is wisely planned, is right and good’.

Candide is confronted with many disasters. There is a massacre during which Cunegonde is apparently killed; and Pangloss is executed in an auto-da-fé. Candide sets off on his travels. He goes to Paris, where he meets an Old Lady, who accompanies him (along with the miraculously saved Cunegonde) to the New World. He goes to Buenos Aires and to the fabulous land of Eldorado.

He returns to Europe, surviving a shipwreck, goes to Venice and finally back to Westphalia. There he realizes the folly of Pangloss’s philosophy and resolves to build his own life rather than assuming that everything that happens is for the best.

© Alison Latham