Bernstein: Candide
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Movie Reviews of Bernstein: Candide
Movie Review: An absolute must-have for all Bernstein fans
Summary: 5 Stars
Seeing Bernstein - this great American musical genius - conducting his labour of love not long before his untimely death is an extremely moving experience particularly when he takes a few moments to address the audience at the beginning, middle, and end of the performance.
The reasons for the failure of "Candide" are clear - the story is episodic and just plain silly (staying true to the source novel by Voltaire) and at the end of the opera when the cast sing "Make our Garden Grow", we just don't feel that Candide has made any kind of personal journey.
Despite the serious deficiencies of the story there are many musical highlights to enjoy in "Candide" - the aforementioned "Make our Garden Grow", the Overture, "Oh Happy We", "Glitter and be Gay", "I am Easily Assimilated" to name but a few.
"Candide" places unbelievable demands on the performers and thankfully they are all up to it. Adolph Green is astonishing as Dr Pangloss, so for that matter is June Anderson as Cunegonde, the veterans Nicolai Gedda and Christa Ludwig are both excellent, Jerry Hadley is good if a bit colourless as Candide.
This DVD is an absolute must-have for all admirers of Bernstein.
Movie Review: Outranks the PBS version easily, IMHO
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my favorite version of Candide. I prefer it to the PBS version, which was a bit silly for my taste, in it's slapstick presentation that turned timeless characters into caricatures. It will be a while before a new production outdoes this DG issue with Lenny himself, the LSO, with Christa Ludwig, Nicolai Gedda and Adolf Greene. Top notch!Movie Review: Bernstein at his very best
Summary: 5 Stars
Bernstein died shortly after this Candide was recorded in London, and it's as if the old master has put everything that made him really good into this - humor (especially the jokes about himself are nice), integrity, and, especially, passion. The music's great too, but the extra treat is the introduction he gives. Absolutely great.Movie Review: Review of Bernstein's London Performance of Candide
Summary: 5 Stars
The best performance yet. Full of humor and asides. I especially enjoyed Leonard Bernstein's candid remarks and his usual enjoyment of his and the artist's performances. The orchestra, chorus and principals are super. I first saw this recording on TV in Mexico City several years ago, and it hasn't lost its sparkle!Movie Review: Great DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
We love this DVD of Candide. We had it on video tape, but the quality was bad. This Bernstein production is unbelievable, being live, and with the cast suffering from "The British flu", they all did a terrific job.
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