SANTA FE, N.M. — What a singular — indeed, revolutionary — figure Leonard Bernstein was. An accomplished conductor, composer, pianist, mentor and popularizer, he had the good fortune to arrive on the scene along with long-playing and stereophonic records. His craggy good looks were made for the new medium of television.
The first American-born conductor to helm one of the "Big Five" American orchestras, he was music director of the New York Philharmonic for only 11 years, from 1958 to 1969, but his tenure continues to exert outsize influence. Recording prolifically, there and elsewhere, he popularized the music of Gustav Mahler as no one before him. His sophisticated Omnibus and Young People's Concerts TV programs introduced legions of youngsters to the wonders of classical music and inspired many a would-be conductor. His summer courses at Tanglewood helped many of the latter hone their craft.
Marking the Bernstein centenary at Santa Fe Opera, his comic operetta Candide displays signature genius and self-indulgent failings. In music as in life, he couldn't resist showing off just how smart he was; for Bernstein, nothing succeeded like excess. Self-editing wasn't his forte.
Voltaire's satirical novel wasn't the most obvious operatic material. A young man, Candide, and his beloved, Cunegonde, are separated from comfortable lives in Westphalia to wash up in Lisbon, Paris, Buenos Aires, mythical El Dorado and Venice. Singly and together, they've victims of corrupt royals and clergy and assorted thieves and cheats.
The operetta's own history is scarcely less turbulent. Originally conceived with Lillian Hellman, with lyrics by John La Touche, Dorothy Parker and Richard Wilbur, it had at best a qualified success at its 1956 Broadway premiere. Multiple subsequent revisions added collaborations by Hugh Wheeler, Stephen Sondheim, John Wells and John Mauceri. Santa Fe's production, seen Tuesday night at the Crosby Theatre, is based on Bernstein's final thoughts on the work, a version premiered in 1988 by the Scottish Opera.
With Matthew Epstein credited as dramaturge, Laurent Pelly supplies an aptly antic staging. He even designed the costumes: baroque frills for the main characters, black-on-white for the others, imprinted with excerpts of the Voltaire novel. Chantal Thomas' abstract scenic elements seem to represent giant sheaves of paper, flat or curling. Projections by 59 Production supply fire and water effects.
Alek Shrader is the eager Candide, with a pleasant lyric tenor that could be a size larger. Brenda Rae effectively personifies Cunegonde's transformation from sweet young thing to femme de plaisir, her soprano glittering gaily on top but undernourished below. Both speaking and singing in a well-projected bass, Kevin Burdette gives a virtuoso performance in the multiple roles of Voltaire/Pangloss/Cacambo/Martin. Helene Schneiderman is the comically sympathetic Old Lady; Jarrett Ott and Gina Perregrino are effective as Maximillian and Paquette.
The chorus, prepared by Susanne Sheston, struggled a bit with harmonies in its first entrance Tuesday, but thereafter acquitted itself well. Conductor Harry Bicket made the popular overture more frantic and raucous than necessary, but otherwise coordinated capably.
Bernstein's Candide fairly explodes with imagination and brilliance. The rhymes, from many hands, are clever as can be, and the music is a flashy compendium of dance rhythms and cinematic lyricism. But it's also an overload. I kept wishing for a large pair of shears, especially in the second act.
Formerly classical music critic of The Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell continues covering the beat as a freelance writer. Classical music coverage at The News is supported in part by a grant from the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. The News makes all editorial decisions.
Details
Through Aug. 25 at the Crosby Theatre, Santa Fe, N.M. $35 to $310. 1-800-280-4654, santafeopera.org.
