The Bernstein Experience

Robert Spano, conductor

A co-production with the Alliance Theatre, Candide seems as complicated as it is colorful on the surface. Composer, pianist, conductor, writer and teacher Leonard Bernstein put just about everything into his score. Some numbers approach bel canto arias; others are closer to the tango, the polka, the waltz, the German chorale, grand opera or Gilbert and Sullivan. But Leonard Bernstein could no more forget the diverse panoply of music that filled his dizzying musical life than his own arm. A tragic comedy based on the satire by Voltaire, Bernstein’s 1956 Broadway show Candide takes aim at politicians while adding unforgettable tunes to the lexicon of American song.