Bernstein's Candide

I ended a really fun week of culture and the arts last night with a semi-staged version of Leonard Bernstein's opera Candide performed in collaboration with the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera.  I sometimes teach the satirical novella by Voltaire, upon which this opera is based, to my seniors so I have been looking forward to this since the 2018-2019 season was announced.  It was absolutely delightful and I laughed out loud more times than I can count!  Candide (Jonathan Johnson) is an illegitimate young man living in Westphalia with his uncle, the Baron Thunder-ten-Tronck and his son, Maximilian (Mark Diamond), daughter, Cunegonde (Amy Owens), and an accommodating serving girl named Paquette (Alecks Romano).  The four young people are taught by an eminent philosopher, Dr. Pangloss (Hugh Russell), that life equals happiness.  When Candide falls in love with Cunegonde, the Baron disapproves and banishes him.  Candide then wanders around the world, including Bulgaria where he is pressed into service in the army, Lisbon where he faces the Spanish Inquisition, Paris where he inadvertently kills two men, Spain where he flees arrest, Uruguay where he inadvertently kills Maximilian, El Dorado where he discovers golden sheep, Suriname where he buys a leaky boat, and Venice where is is reunited with everyone.  While he is having his adventures, he wonders why all of these bad things keep happening to him when life is happiness.  He finally realizes that life is just life and settles down with Cunegonde to grow his garden.  The music in this opera is beautiful and I especially enjoyed "The Best of All Possible Worlds," "It Must Be So," "Glitter and Be Gay," "My Love," "Universal Good," and "Make Our Garden Grow."  Both Johnson and Owens are spectacular and I also really enjoyed the Utah Opera Chorus who provide much of the comedy.  This performance is absolutely hilarious and my favorite bit of business is when Candide borrows Maestro Thierry Fischer's baton to use in a sword fight!  The costumes are fabulous and the staging is incredibly innovative for such a small space.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I highly recommend getting a ticket to tonight's performance (go here).

Note:  I really enjoy watching the principal timpanist (translation: I have a small crush on him).  At this performance an adorable older lady sitting in front of me turned and asked me if she was obstructing my view by leaning forward slightly.  When I said no, she went on to say that her favorite member of the orchestra plays the timpani and since he was in the corner of the stage she couldn't see him without leaning forward.  I laughed and said that I liked him, too!  She mentioned, while blushing, that she had met him and that he was just so charming.  I told her that we could swoon together!