Candide: Mazda Opera in the Domain 2010
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Saturday 30 January 2010
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Philosophy, sex, war, piracy, penury and a happy ending, all set to music: it could only happen in opera. Add a starry sky, fireworks and a champagne picnic and you have one of Sydney's favourite summer events.
On Saturday 30 January 2010 Opera Australia, in conjunction with the Sydney Festival, presents Leonard Bernstein's Candide as the 2010 Mazda Opera in the Domain.
This event is hosted by Mazda Australia with pre-show entertainment from 2-Day FM's Hamish and Andy, one of Australia's favourite radio personalities Christopher Lawrence as master of ceremonies and Paul McDermott from Good News Week making his Opera Australia debut. Candide will be semi-staged by Sydney Festival Director Lindy Hume and also stars David Hobson, Emma Matthews, Julian Gavin, Judi Connelli and Amy Wilkinson, with Paul Kildea conducting the combined forces of the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Opera Australia Chorus. And, thanks to the ongoing support of Mazda Australia, now in its fifth year with Opera in the Domain, it is a free event.
Opera Australia's chief executive, Adrian Collette comments: "we are thrilled to once again work with Mazda Australia, under the umbrella of the Sydney Festival, to bring opera to the widest possible audience”.
Candide follows the travels and travails of a relentlessly optimistic hero through a series of wild adventures and astonishing coincidences. Taught from an early age that "all is for the best", Candide survives war, shipwreck, the Spanish Inquisition, Venetian gambling dens and Mexican swindlers, to return home to his beloved Cunegonde (Emma Matthews) enlightened by a new, more realistic philosophy of life.
Candide is based on Voltaire's novel of 1759, a biting satire which has become one of the most famous books in French Literature. In it he ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies and philosophers. From this infamous work of literature, the composer, conductor and all-round music celebrity Leonard Bernstein has created a work which is ironic, glamorous and hilarious all at once, swept along by some fabulously inventive music. This production was created to mark Candide's 50th anniversary and presented at the 2006 Perth International Festival of the Arts. Director Lindy Hume says: “Candide is my absolute all-time favourite. It is a fantastic piece, but it is also a director’s ‘coral reef ’ in that it is an extraordinarily complex and circuitous tale. Add to that the fact that there are 12 performance versions, and none of them is perfect. However, in 2006 Candide [was] 50 years old – and Bernstein being one of my heroes, I simply had to mark its birthday. It’s my homage to Lennie!”
Venue
Domain @ Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney
Price
Free
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