COVER

A SUMPTUOUS ROMP THROUGH THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS

CANDIDEP R E S E N T

Leonard Bernstein’s Candide famously opened on Broadway in 1956 and closed after some 73 performances. It could have easily slipped into the long list of forgotten musicals save for the fact that it spawned one of the most loved Broadway Original cast albums of all time, the fi rst track being ‘that’ overture. The show fi nally became a hit on Broadway in the 1974 Harold Prince production, winning a special Tony Award for outstanding contribution to the artistic development of the musical theatre. Termed a revival, this was almost a completely new show; the book had been totally rewritten, the orchestral forces reduced, much of the music was cut and the voices, Broadway music theatre. And even though he was grateful Candide had fi nally found an audience, the composer missed the rest of his show: the music, the orchestrations and the voices.

Tonight, some sixty years after the original production, and after many, many versions, you’ll hear the Candide that Bernstein authorised, the version that marries the irreverence and joy of Hugh Wheeler’s 1974 script with the full orchestral version of the score in all its audacity and

Welcom

e

Auckland Town Hall23 & 24 March at 7.30pm25 March at 5pm

Music by Leonard Bernstein, book by Hugh Wheeler after Voltaire, Lyrics by Richard Wilbur, with additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, John La Touche, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker and Leonard BernsteinOrchestrations by Leonard Bernstein and Hershy Kay; Musical continuity and additional orchestrations by John Mauceri. Licensed by Hal Leonard Australia, exclusive agent for Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

Please note: Information is correct at the time of printing. New Zealand Opera reserves the right to make alterations to the cast as required due to unavoidable circumstances. Use of cameras, cellular phones and recording devices is strictly prohibited. Latecomers will not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance.

brilliance. What better way to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the great composer himself?

Voltaire’s original story Candide or Optimism, published in 1759, raises many issues. It is an attack on the complacency of our modern world, on all ready made, ‘self help book’ style systems of belief. It’s a satire on organised religion, and a gloomy summing up of the man’s inhumanity to man… how, if this is the best of all possible worlds, do you explain the horror of natural disasters? And like all great satires Candide just raises the issues, it doesn’t provide any answers.

The critic Mark Steyn has said ‘…Candide will always occupy a unique niche in the Broadway canon, not least because its dramatis personae includes a character with only one buttock. To some of us, the whole show is half-assed — for what could be madder than turning Candide into a musical? You’re adapting a satire on optimism to a medium where optimism is mandatory.’

In the musical version, Voltaire’s skepticism is overthrown in the final moments. Bernstein’s incurable optimism turns Voltaire’s moral, “Il faut cultiver

son jardin” (translated in the operetta as “Make our Garden Grow’) into a stirring and positive anthem, full of hope for a better world. This is, after all, the same Leonard Bernstein who, in response to the assassination of John F Kennedy said: ‘This will be our reply to violence; to make music more intensely. More beautifully, more devotedly than ever before’.

As our young hero, Candide and his virtuously challenged consort face an evening of ever-increasing catastrophes: shipwrecks, erupting volcanoes, disease, poverty, treachery, lechery, war, and injustice, all the while insisting that ‘all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds’, they finally take stock in the final moments of the musical. Through this gorgeous piece of music we are coaxed to appreciate what we’ve got, to make the most of it and to ‘do the best we know’. Too optimistic? Please heavens not.

Happy Birthday, Mr Bernstein!

Stuart Maunder General Director of New Zealand Opera and Director of tonight’s production of Candide

Director — Stuart MaunderFor the last thirty years Stuart has been directing opera and music theatre in Australasia, United Kingdom and the USA.Currently General Director of New Zealand Opera, Stuart has directed Tosca, Sweeney Todd and The Mikado for the Company. In July he will take up the position of Artistic Director of State Opera South Australia.

Conductor — Wyn DaviesWyn works extensively as a conductor and teacher and has been Director of Music at New Zealand Opera since 2005. Orchestral engagements include Hallé Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Lighting Designer — Trudy DalglieshOne of Australia’s most sought after Lighting Designers, Trudy’s awards include: Helpmann, ‘Entech’, Green Room, and John Truscott Design Award for Excellence. Lighting Designer in 2018 for: In the Heights, The Cunning Little Vixen, Carousel, and Associate Lighting Designer for: The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

Designer — Roger KirkRoger is a Tony Award-winning set and costume designer for theatre, film and television who has designed costumes for The Boy From Oz with Hugh Jackman, The King and I and King Kong the Musical. Roger has worked extensively on set and costume design for Opera Australia.

Choreographer — Yvette LeeWorking for more than a decade in the dance industry, Yvette has established herself as one of Australia’s leading choreographers. She has worked alongside some of the world’s leading musical talent and her extensive portfolio includes television, film, theatre and live events.

Sound Designer — Jim AtkinsJim Atkin’s recent work includes sound design and operation for Nixon in China (Auckland Arts Festival); Victorian Opera’s productions of Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, The Riders, The Flying Dutchman, Nixon in China, Banquet of Secrets and Dark Rider; and Ring Cycle (Opera Australia).

Creative

Proudly supported by D

ame Jenny G

ibbs D

NZM

Proudly supported by the Friedlander Foundation

Voltaire / Dr Pangloss — Reg LivermoreOver his six decade career Reg has performed many times with Opera Australia and Victoria State Opera, in his own original works and the first Australian productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show. He won a Helpmann Award for his Wizard in Wicked in 2015, and is the recipient of three Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Candide — James Benjamin RodgersBorn in Wellington, New-York based tenor James has performed both Opera and Music Theatre. NZO roles include Anthony Hope: Sweeney Todd, Kudrjas: Kátya Kabanová and Spoletta: Tosca. Upcoming roles include Camille: The Merry Widow and Quasimodo: Hunchback of Notre Dame. He is a passionate advocate of the art song repertoire.

Cunégonde — Amelia BerryBorn in Wellington, Amelia Berry graduated with a first-class honours degree from the New Zealand School of Music, continuing her studies at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. She has performed extensively for New Zealand Opera and is a previous winner of the Napier Aria, New Zealand Aria, Wellington Aria and Otago Daily Times Aria.

Maximilian — James HarrisonJames studied at the Royal College of Music then went on to the National Opera Studio. He has appeared in concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican, Wigmore Hall and St John’s Smith Square. He has recently moved back to New Zealand and is now in demand here as both a performer and teacher.

The Old Lady — Jacqueline DarkJacqueline is a multiple Helpmann and Green Room Award-winning mezzo soprano. Fricka: Der Ring des Nibelungen, Amneris: Aida (Opera Australia); Herodias: Salome (OA, Opera Hong Kong); Santuzza: Cavalleria rusticana (Adelaide); Mother Abbess: The Sound of Music (Gordon Frost). Soloist with all the Australasian symphony orchestras.

Paquette — Natasha WilsonNatasha made her professional debut with New Zealand Opera in The Mikado. She has performed internationally with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and in 2017, was selected for the inaugural Dame Malvina Major Foundation Opera Studies programme. She is a member of the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation’s mentoring programme.

Cast

James H

arrison is a previous recipient of the C

ircle 100

scholarship and N

ZO acknow

ledges their continued support

Dam

e Malvina M

ajor Em

erging Artist

Ryman M

ina Foley Scholar

Cast

Governor / Vanderdendur— Kanen BreenKanen’s appearances include Rodolfo in Baz Luhrman’s Broadway La Bohème, the Witch of Endor in Adelaide Festival’s 2017 Saul for which he won a Helpmann Award, principal roles for Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, Opera Queensland, Pinchgut Opera and performances of Nanki Poo in NZO’s 2017 season of The Mikado.

Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus SopranosChelsea Dolman∆, Jessica Duirs, Fiona Li, Anna Mahon, Elizabeth Mandeno∆, Morag McDowell, Carla Parry, Blaire White.

Mezzo-SopranosVictoria Coleman, Wendy Doyle∆, Helen Kim, Glenn Meade, Charlotte Pridham, Deborah Rogers∆, Emma Sloman, Jessica Wells.

TenorsLachlan Craig∆, Andrew Grenon∆, Harry Grigg, Nathan Hauraki, Patrick Kelly, Manase Latu◊, Giancarlo Lisi, Chris McRae.

BaritonesArthur Adams-Close, Dragan Atanasov, Samuel Downes, Alexander Garvey, Rhys Hingston, Ben Kubiak, Angus Simmons, David Wallace.

Production TeamCompany Manager Jacqueline Coats (CHC) Katie Flood (AKL) Production Manager Robert Hunte Stage Manager Lucie Camp Deputy Stage Manager Youra Hwang Assistant Stage Manager Michael Clark Head of Lighting Sean Lynch Sound System & Design Glen Ruske (Bounce NZ) Assistant Head of Lighting Alex Fisher Head of Wardrobe Sophie Ham Wardrobe Supervisor Holly Leighton

ChorusProduction

Byron CollA graduate of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School, Byron is an award-winning actor who has been working consistently in theatre, film and television for over 10 years. Candide is his second appearance with the New Zealand Opera, having played Koko in the critically acclaimed 2017 production of The Mikado.

Robert TuckerRobert was an Emerging Performer at the Australian Opera Studio and Freemasons Opera Scholar with New Zealand Opera.Some previous NZO roles include Kuligin: Kátya Kabanová, Pish-Tush: The Mikado, Adolfo Pirelli: Sweeney Todd, Baron Douphol: La traviata, Tommo: Brass Poppies, Masetto: Don Giovanni.

Wardrobe Room Assistant Amy Craven, Tanya Kakoma, Grace Lethbridge (intern) Dressers Bridget Brian, Gayle Jackson

Head of Wigs & Makeup Charlie Oswin Wigs & Makeup Supervisor Rachel Johanson Wigs & Makeup Assistants Hayley Ness, Freya de Raadt, Abby Swain, Abi Taylor Set Construction Matt Munford, Glen Birch (2 Construct) Props Master Bec Ehlers (BECreative)

Music StaffRépétiteur Sharolyn Kimmorley & David Kelly

Special ThanksPultron Composites Ltd, Juggernaut, Empire Electrical Services, Angus Simmons, Thomas Bray.

Auckland Philharmonia OrchestraMusic DirectorGiordano Bellincampi

ConcertmasterAndrew Beer

Associate ConcertmasterLiu-Yi Retallick

Assistant ConcertmasterMiranda Adams

First ViolinsArtur Grabczewski#, Mark Bennett, Elzbieta Grabczewska, Ainsley Murray, Alexander Shapkin, Caroline von Bismarck, Yanghe Yu, Lucy Qi Zhang, Yuri Cho

Orchestra

◊ Dame Malvina Major

Emerging Artist ∆ Freemasons New Zealand

Opera Artist ∞ Section Principal

= Section Leader Emeritus

* Principal

+ Associate Principal # Sub-Principal

~ APO Orchestral Fellow

Second ViolinsDianna Cochrane∞, Xin (James) Jin+, William Hanfling#, Rae Crossley-Croft=, Sarah Hart, Jocelyn Healy, Rachel Moody, Milena Parobczy, Ewa Sadag, Katherine Walshe

ViolasRobert Ashworth∞, David Samuel+, Christine Bowie#, Anne Draffin#, Helen Bevin, Ping Tong Chan, Gregory McGarity, Susan Wedde

CellosDavid Garner+, Liliya Arefyeva, Katherine Hebley, You Lee, James sang-oh Yoo, Callum Hall

BassesGordon Hill∞, Annabella Zilber+, Evgueny Lanchtchikov#, Matthias Erdrich, Michael Steer

FlutesMelanie Lançon∞, Kathryn Moorhead+

PiccoloJennifer Seddon-Mori*

OboesBede Hanley∞, Camille Wells+

Cor AnglaisMartin Lee*

ClarinetsBridget Miles (Bass Clarinet)+, James Fry (Eb Clarinet)+

BassoonsIngrid Hagan∞, Yang Rachel Guan Ebbett+

ContrabassoonRuth Brinkman*

TrombonesDouglas Cross∞, Mark Close#

HornsNicola Baker∞, Emma Eden*, Carl Wells#, Simon Williams#, David Kay

TrumpetsHuw Dann∞, Josh Rogan#

Bass TromboneTimothy Sutton*

TubaTak Chun Lai*

Timpani Steven Logan∞ β

PercussionEric Renick∞, Jennifer Raven#, Shane Currey

HarpRebecca Harris*