Candide – Opéra de Lausanne

New York! The Statue of Liberty, Manhattan, Fifth Avenue, Broadway… Broadway: the only route that stretches from the south to the north of the island and that does not respect the grid plan established in 1881, home to all parades… and all theatres! Although he is not strictly speaking a pure product of Broadway, Leonard Bernstein has nonetheless become a legend thanks to the success of his musicals. Candide was created in 1956, a year before the iconic West Side Story. Inspired by Voltaire’s philosophical tale of the same name, this generous work is a joyful blend of jazz, operetta, musical comedy, gospel and even dodecaphony, giving America the uninhibited and exuberant face we love. With its emblematic overture and its arias, many of which have become “hits” – starting with Cunégonde’s Glitter and be gay, a favourite acrobatic terrain for coloraturas, everything is in place for the most exhilarating of evenings… before returning home to “tend one’s garden”.