Candide - 1999 Royal National Theatre

This recording of Candide is definatelly the best one I've found!
Bernsteins musical, originally from 1956, has a big score and needs good voices to come to it's right. Here, both the orchestra and the singers come through excelently, and the ensemble does a good jobb in the not entirely simply choral parts. The orchestra is exact, and executes the brilliant overture with lots of energy.
The musical orignially premiered in New York ...
...show only ran for 73 performances, and suffered a simillarly short run in London a few years later (1959, 60 performances). Barbara Cook got her breakthrough with Glitter and be Gay, though, and almost 20 years later, 1973, the show got a new chance in a revival that ran for 740 performances, far more successfull than the original. The show has been very popular both in professional and amateur revivals.
The cast includes Alex Kelly as Cunegonde, ... more

This recording of Candide is definatelly the best one I've found!
Bernsteins musical, originally from 1956, has a big score and needs good voices to come to it's right. Here, both the orchestra and the singers come through excelently, and the ensemble does a good jobb in the not entirely simply choral parts. The orchestra is exact, and executes the brilliant overture with lots of energy.
The musical orignially premiered in New York 1956 with most notablly Barbara Cook in the cast. The show only ran for 73 performances, and suffered a simillarly short run in London a few years later (1959, 60 performances). Barbara Cook got her breakthrough with Glitter and be Gay, though, and almost 20 years later, 1973, the show got a new chance in a revival that ran for 740 performances, far more successfull than the original. The show has been very popular both in professional and amateur revivals.
The cast includes Alex Kelly as Cunegonde, Daniel Evans as Candide, Simon Day as Maximilian, Elizabeth Renihan as Paguette and Simon Russel Beale as Voltaire. Their voces blend together very well in songs like Life Is Happiness, The Best of All possible Worlds and What's the Use. They are also outstanding in the big solo numbers.
Glitter and be Gay is of course one of the high points of the score, and Alex Kelly executes it with both comedy and vocal perfections. Her high notes seem to float out perfectly, without taking focus from the text which is central to the number. Candide's Lament shows Daniel Evans range both vocaly and emotionally. A nice surprise is the dramatic/comique song Words, Words, Words sung by Denis Quilley in the character of Martin!
Bernsteins score is rich and majestic and the orchestra manges to execute it very well.
Over all, this cast really manages to produce an engaging performance, with perfect vocal technique without loosing the importance of the lyrics, which is far to usuall in this type of musical. Instead the characters really do come out at you from the loud speakers, and the actors are not affraid of using their voices to create characters.

Tracks:
1. Life Is Happiness Indeed
2. Best Of All Possible Worlds
3. Universal Good
4. Oh Happy We
5. It Must Be So
6. Candide's Lament
7. Dear Boy
8. Paris Waltz
9. Glitter And Be Gay
10. Auto De Fe
11. You Were Dead You Know
12. I Am Easily Assimilated
13. Quartet Finale
14. We Are Women
15. My Love
16. Alleluia
17. Ballad Of Eldorado
18. Bon Voyage
19. It Must Be Me
20. Words Words Words
21. Quiet
22. Money Money Money
23. Venice Gavotte
24. Nothing More Than This
25. What's The Use
26. King's Barcolle
27. Make Our Garden Grow
28. Universal Good 

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