Candide is an operetta with music composed by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics primarily by the poet Richard Wilbur, based on the 1759 novella of the same name by Voltaire.

It featured Robert Rounseville as Candide, Barbara Cook as Cunegonde, Max Adrian as Dr. Pangloss, and Irra Petina as the Old Lady.

Where he is diabolical, [she] is humanitarian ... the libretto ... seems too serious for the verve and mocking lyricism of Leonard Bernstein's score which, without being strictly 18th century, maintains, with its gay pastiche of past styles and forms, a period quality.

This production used Lillian Hellman's book with an additional credit 'assisted by Michael Stewart', and it was directed by Robert Lewis with choreography by Jack Cole.

The cast included Denis Quilley as Candide, Mary Costa as Cunegonde, Laurence Naismith as Dr. Pangloss and Edith Coates as the Old Lady.

The 1974 Broadway revival starred Mark Baker (Candide), Maureen Brennan (Cunegonde), Sam Freed (Maximilian), Lewis J. Stadlen (Dr. Pangloss), and June Gable as the Old Lady.

[7] It was first performed by the New York City Opera (NYCO) in 1982 under Prince's direction, and ran for thirty-four performances with a cast that included David Eisler as Candide, Erie Mills as Cunegonde, Deborah Darr as Paquette, John Lankston in the quintuple roles of Voltaire/Pangloss/Businessman/Governor/Gambler, Muriel Costa-Greenspon as the Old Lady, Scott Reeve as Maximilian, Don Yule as the Huntsman and Bulgarian Soldier, and James Billings as the Judge/Father Bernard/Don Issachar/First Gambler/Maximilian's Servant.

[7] The Australian premiere in 1982 by the Nimrod Theatre Company and directed by John Bell at Sydney's Seymour Centre featured Philip Quast in the title role.

[11] In 1988, Bernstein started working alongside John Mauceri, then director of Scottish Opera, to produce a version that expressed his final wishes regarding Candide.

Bernstein then conducted and recorded what he called his "final revised version" with Jerry Hadley as Candide, June Anderson as Cunegonde, Christa Ludwig as the Old Lady, Kurt Ollmann as Maximilian and Adolph Green as Dr. Pangloss/Martin.

was recorded for television with a cast that featured: Ethan Freeman (Maximilian), Doug Jones (Candide), Colleen Besett (Kunigunde), James Brookes (Voltaire), Debria Brown (alte Dame), Bärbel Müller (Paquette), Werner Hollweg (Governour), Heidi Eisenberg (Baroness), Karl Oblasser, John Capes, Denis Kozeluh.

The cast included: Jason Danieley (Candide), Harolyn Blackwell (Cunegonde), Jim Dale (Dr. Pangloss), Andrea Martin (Old Lady), and Brent Barrett (Maximilian).

The production featured Daniel Evans, Denis Quilley, Alex Kelly and Beverley Klein, with musical direction by Mark Dorrell, and a recording was released on the RNT's own label.

[citation needed] In 2005, Candide premiered in Poland at the Grand Theatre at Łódź (conducted by Tadeusz Kozłowski, directed by Tomasz Konina).

[14] In 2006, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the creation of Candide, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris produced a new production under the direction of Robert Carsen.

The production, staged in a vast wooden box, with Candide's travels being portrayed through the use of maps and model ships, featured significant amounts of narration adapted directly from Voltaire's novel.

[16][17] A concert performance at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2010, conducted by Bramwell Tovey, featured Richard Suart as Pangloss, Frederica von Stade as the Old Lady, Alek Shrader as the title character and Anna Christy as Cunegonde.

[18] The Harold Prince/New York City Opera 1982 production was revived at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center in January 2017 with Prince directing and a cast including Gregg Edelman as Voltaire/Dr.

Pangloss and various characters, Linda Lavin as The Old Lady, Jay Armstrong Johnson as Candide, Meghan Picerno as Cunegonde, Keith Phares as Maximilian, and Chip Zien and Brooks Ashmanskas.

[19] In 2015, the Teatro Comunale, Florence production, produced by Francesco Micheli, featured Keith Jameson and Laura Claycomb as Candide and Cunegonde, with Richard Suart as Pangloss and Anja Silja and Chris Merritt as the Old Lady and the Governor.

Alexander Lewis played Candide, Annie Aitken was Cunegonde, and veteran actress Caroline O'Connor took the part of The Old Lady.

Set as a 1930s radio drama, the production sold out five performances and was critically acclaimed by the St. Paul Pioneer Press as "the Candide we've been waiting for".

However, the Baron, the Baroness, Maximilian, Paquette, Pangloss and (after being repeatedly ravished by the Bulgar Army) Cunegonde are all killed in the attack ("Battle Music").

Accepting an offer to fight for the Jesuits in South America, Candide decides to take Cunegonde and the Old Lady to the New World, and the three begin their journey on a ship ("Quartet Finale").

Soon after, Don Fernando d'Ibaraa y Figueroa y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza, the governor of the city, falls in love with Maximilian, but quickly realizes his mistake and sells him to a priest.

Three years later, Cunegonde and the Old Lady discuss the miseries shared by the upper classes while the Governor does not want to hear their complaints ("Quiet").

Unwilling to go back to Montevideo, Candide gives Cacambo one of the golden sheep to ransom Cunegonde, telling them that they will meet again in Venice.

While many orchestrations of the overture exist, in its current incarnation for full symphony orchestra, which incorporates changes made by Bernstein during performances in December 1989, the piece requires a standard-sized contemporary orchestra of piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, an E-flat and two B-flat clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, a large but standard percussion contingent, harp, and a standard string section.

Main differences between the two are doublings and increased use of percussion effects (especially the addition of a drum roll during the opening fanfares) in the symphony orchestral arrangement.

Subsequent performers of the role of Cunegonde have included: This aria has been performed in concert by many musical theatre and opera stars, including (in addition to those listed above): Natalie Dessay, Diana Damrau, Sumi Jo, Edita Gruberová, Renée Fleming, Simone Kermes, Roberta Peters, and Dawn Upshaw.