Review: “Candide” @ Glimmerglass Festival, 7/30/15

CandideA rambling “Candide” at Glimmerglass

By Joseph Dalton

COOPERSTOWN — Seldom does an opera or musical, and “Candide” must be one or the other if not both, give such explicit instructions on how it should be judged and appreciated. But the first act is insistent: “One must be optimistic.” So let’s try.

There’s great music, good voices and entertaining staging in this new production at the Glimmerglass Festival. But (that didn’t take long) the show itself has way too much chatter about philosophy and religion, international travel and world politics.

Maybe “Candide” is an opera after all, since the easiest way to find its pleasures is to pretend everything’s in a foreign language and stop trying to keep up with the dizzying number of plot reversals. Instead, ease back and enjoy the flowing contours of Bernstein’s score and admire the charm and talents of young cast.

Along the way, this rendition from director Francesca Zambello and conductor Joseph Colaneri takes a fresh look at some familiar and overlooked passages.

“Glitter and Be Gay,” often a frothy showpiece on recitals, becomes a startling mad scene. Soprano Kathryn Lewek as Cunegonde starts it off while in a reclined position. Soon she’s standing center stage, wearing little more than a bustier and stockings, and flings her jewelry across the stage with fury. She also knocks out the high notes with appealing clarity and rage.

Some of the choruses, like “Auto-da-Fe,” that other productions usually race through, are given colorful and lavish treatment. From a visual perspective the best is “Eldorado,” a sort of Mayan burlesque dripping with gold.

Tossing aside the need to depict umpteen exotic locales, designer James Noone places everything backstage at an old theater. As in “Follies,” the cast manages to find just the right props and keeps returning to the spotlight in an array of sparkling costumes, which are by Jennifer Moeller.

David Garrison as the host and narrator Voltaire/Pangloss begins each act with a chalkboard talk, which is followed by more talk. It’s a wonder he gets by without a teleprompter. Late in the night, he drew hearty applause just for racing through a particularly complicated monologue.

It was announced that tenor Andrew Stenson as Candide was performing despite being in poor voice. His singing was actually fine, far better than his often stooped and one-dimensional acting.

A standout in the sizeable supporting cast was bass-baritone Matthew Scollin as Martin. One has to wonder if it was an intentional bit of self-reflecting humor by the creators when his song begins “Words, words, words.”

Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy.

***

Opera review

Bernstein’s “Candide”

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Glimmerglass Festival
Length: Two hours, 50 minutes; one intermission
Continues: Seven more performances through August 21.
Tickets: $10-$95. Call (607) 547-2255.
More information: http://www.glimmerglass.org/

 

 

Joseph Dalton