1956 Broadway Production | |
Candide - Original Broadway Cast
Digitally Remixed and Remastered Version
Digitally Remastered Version [Stereo, although CD is labeled as Mono]
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1974 Broadway Revival | |
Candide - Original Cast Recording of the Complete
Production
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Selections
Note: Time length excludes most dialogue scenes |
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1982 New York City Opera Production | |
Candide - New York City Opera
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording of the Year |
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1988 Scottish Opera Production | |
Candide - Scottish National Opera
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Selections
* Note: These selections appeared only on the 1997 reissue |
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1989 Leonard Bernstein Recording | |
Candide - Leonard Bernstein
Grammy Award for Best Classical Album of the Year |
Selections
* Note: Only these selections appeared on the highlights release |
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1997 Broadway Revival | |
Candide - New Broadway Cast Recording
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1999 Royal National Theatre Production | |
Candide - The 1999 Royal National Theatre Recording
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Which Recording? A Personal Viewpoint |
With a multiplicity of choices, how can someone coming to Candide for the first time decide which recording to get? Unquestionably, with no quibbles whatsoever, I would have to recommend the Original Broadway Cast recording. Despite the truncated score, no other recording better reveals the wondrous beauty of Bernstein's music. The performances by the four principals are alone worth every bar of music that was not recorded. Most of the other releases have merits as well — it just depends on what you're looking for. For completeness, you'll need Bernstein's recording, but his urgent desire to "legitimize" the score does more harm than it's worth for the new material. Jon Alan Conrad's review in the New York Times presents a fair assessment of the problems with this recording, as well as taking his turn at comparing the various recordings. For the germination of Bernstein's version, check out the Scottish Opera recording, still woefully abridged despite being reissued with bonus cuts. If you really feel the need to hear the score sung by operatic voices, you can't go wrong with the New York City Opera recording. I find it musically superior to Bernstein's operatic attempt — and it includes a very large portion of the score performed by a large orchestra. And despite the praise heaped on the recording qualities of the Bernstein version, I think the NYCO release is amazingly well-recorded also. If you're interested in Hugh Wheeler's book, or want to get an idea of Harold Prince's production, you'll have to try and find a used copy of the out-of-print — and never released on compact disc — 1974 Broadway Revival recording. Personally, I find it musically inferior to all other recordings, and after one listening of the dialogue, why would anyone want to hear it again? (If you're into experiencing your own auto-da-fé, be my guest.) You would be better off with the 1997 Broadway Revival recording, which is basically the same production. It is technically superior, has additional music and better performances — yet I still can't determine whether Lewis J. Stadlen or Jim Dale irritates me more. Having only recently obtained the National Theatre recording, I'm still trying to sort out my feelings towards it. It is refreshing after all of the opera versions to hear it done by "musical theatre" voices again. Some of the accents — principally of the male singers — do come off as somewhat affected. Yet you'll probably want it for the new lyrics — and to scoff at Deutsche Grammophon's effrontery for declaring its recording as the "final revised version". As Cunegonde would say, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" |
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Compiled by Michael H. Hutchins |