Candide Review
A story of love, heartache, optimism, and the problem of evil in our world. Sound familiar? Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (1993 concert version) was performed in concert by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra on Friday 21st July 2017 at Cadagon Hall.
Candide is a comic opera in two acts. Candide is a young male who lives a sheltered life and is learning about optimism from his mentor Dr Pongloss. He falls in love with Cunegonde, the beautiful daughter of a Baron, but events force the lovers to be separated. The play follows Candide’s growing disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences hardships in the world. Set amidst real events, Candide mimics the picaresque style and is characterised by satirical tones, clichés of romance and adventure, insight into human nature and criticism of contemporary civilisation. Through it all Candide tries to hold onto the belief that “Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.”
Candide is adapted from the satire by Voltaire (published in 1759), and the book by John Wells, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Richard Wilbur, with additional lyrics by Stephen Soundheim, John Latouche, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman and Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein(1918-1990) was a composer, conductor, pianist and teacher with his successes including West Side Story, which remain one of my favourites.
The 30 strongLondon Musical Theatre Orchestra (LMTO) and singers conducted by Freddie Tapner did a superb job. The music was a joy to listen to from the mournful ‘Candide’s Lament’, to the romantic ‘Oh Happy We’, to the thunderous ‘Battle Music’. I particularly enjoyed the clarinet solo, but I admit being a clarinettist myself that this could be bias. The atmosphere on stage was intensified by the lighting effects which used red for the fierce, fortissimo battle songs to convey the blood-thirstiness of human nature conjuring images, and calmer blue tones for the softer, mournful songs. There were a range of solos, duets, quartets and company performances including the chorus, with the standout performer being Rob Houchen (Candide), who reminds me of Eddie Redmayne.
At times, it seemed that the narration tried too hard to compare what was occurring on stage to modern day events, for example comparing a battle to a Game of Throne episode. There were also times where the cliched comedic timings of Pangloss and the Ol Lady felt like they were trying too hard to elicit laughter. The seats were not the most comfortable, but the venue is a lovely intimate setting for concerts.
The London Musical Theatre Orchestra (LMTO) was founded in June 2015 by Freddie Tapner who posted on Facebook his wish for an Orchestra that could meet to play orchestral musical scores with the aim of creating specialist musical theatre players. Once a month players and singers from the UK gather in London to rehearse a musical that will be played without an audience, just for the musicians and singers to experience and enjoy music. In June 2016 the LMTO launched its first public season, and a number of concerts are performed throughout the year. This charitable organisation is passionate about the continued development of up-and-coming players and reserve at least a quarter of the seats in the orchestra for those whom this is one of their first professional performances, and in this way these players are able to gain experience and connections with more experienced players.
As a musician, I look forward eagerly to hearing the LMTO performing again.
To find out more about the London Musical Theatre Orchestra visit: http://www.lmto.org/
To find out what’s on at Cadagon Hall visit: https://www.cadoganhall.com/
Reviewer: Caitlin Neal
