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Bernstein's Candide

London Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop

Marin Alsop

It’s an outrageous odyssey of misadventure! Marin Alsop leads the way in Bernstein’s riotous satirical operetta Candide.

Open-hearted and good-natured, Candide lives a life of blissful ignorance until war comes to Westphalia. The hapless Candide’s ordered life is thrown into disarray, as he embarks on a round-the-world voyage, bouncing from one rollicking melodrama to the next. Candide’s sunny optimism is put to the test, as he encounters man-eating sharks, duelling sultans and swindling con-artists.

With lyrical contributions from acerbic writers Richard Wilbur, Dorothy Parker and a young Stephen Sondheim, Candide marries raucous humour with the extraordinary genius of Leonard Bernstein. Marin Alsop – who was mentored by the great conductor and composer – leads this performance, rounding off celebrations of Bernstein’s centenary year.

Barbican Hall