Candide

Leonard Bernstein’s brilliant score for his comic-operetta came vividly alive last night in a satiric and dazzling production by Opera Q. Lindy Hume’s assured directorial flair was everywhere from the cascading coloured sands of Eldorado to an emotional tree-planting finale it was thrilling musical theatre. Using the Bernstein approved concert version that was created by him following a Scottish Opera production of the show in 1988, it was the clearest interpretation of the story I have ever seen, and brought out the satiric intent of Voltaire’s original novel.

Bill Haycock’s design placed the orchestra on stage divided by a golden path which stretched from backstage and extended out into the first rows of the audience, with a two-tiered scaffolding block at the back. Witty set-pieces of palm trees and holy crosses flew in, and with some inventive ticker-tape and lighting effects around the proscenium arch by Andrew Meadows, the set worked perfectly and was one of the stars of this semi-staged production.

The other big star of the night was the Queensland Symphony Orchestra who magnificently rose to the occasion under the baton of Paul Kildea with an electric and lush reading of Bernstein’s masterpiece.

David Hobson is really twenty-years too old to play the youthful Candide, but then Robert Rounseville in the original 1956 Broadway was no spring chicken at 42 when he played it. And it’s not the first time Hobson has sung the role, so maybe that accounts for his performance that had little ‘wow’ factor. He was good, but the vocal thrills were missing, unlike his co-star Amelia Farrugia as Cunegonde who was at the top of her game embellishing the score’s coloratura trills to perfection. Gaily swinging backwards and forwards on a swing adorned in jewles, her performance of the score’s most famous song, the mock-aria “Glitter and be Gay’ was the undoubted highlight of Act 1.

Christine Johnston, taking time out from her appearances with The Kransky Sisters and making her first appearance with Opera Q, was delightful as the Old Lady bringing out the humour and irony of the part.

Act 2’s opening trio “Quiet” was enormous fun with Johnston, Farrugia and Bradley Daley as the Governor of Buenos Aires. Daley also excelled in a numbers of parts as the sea Captain, the swindler Vanderdendur, and the Venetian gambling-house proprietor Ragostski.

Finally we come to the wonderful Bryan Probets who skilfully handled a number of roles, but in particularly Dr Pangloss and the Narrator, keeping the whole plot on track.

Haycock’s costumes were striking, humorous, and a perfect recreation of the 18^th-century, but Murray Keidge’s sound amplification was another matter, flattening the dynamic of the orchestra and voices. It lacked presence.

Bernstein’s score is an abundance of riches; “The Best of all Possible Worlds”, “I Am Easily Assimilated”, “It Must Be So”, “Bon Voyage” and “What’s the Use?”, to name a few, but it’s the fervent finale “Make Our Garden Grow” which brings a lump to the throat, and this production didn’t disappoint.

Peter Pinne

Photographer: Stephanie Do Rozario.