Candide

"What Marin Alsop offers us is a souvenir of an evening's concert presentation of the show. You might not always want to hear the spoken bits, of course, but I found that this LSO Live rendition was entertaining and coherent throughout ... The London Symphony Orchestra offers razor-sharp playing from start to finish and the contributions of the London Symphony Chorus are splendidly spirited throughout. Alsop has a fine supporting cast in which Marcus Farnsworth and Thomas Atkins particularly stand out ... I'm very glad to have this highly entertaining account of Candide to set beside the composer's own version".

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"Recording of the week: It's fascinating to hear the different approach that Alsop takes in general. Gone is a lot of the madcap mayhem and manic energy of Bernstein's account, replaced by a more easy-going vibe that arguably gives the music more room to breathe ... Capalbo impresses in the title role ... For me, though, it is the ladies who steal the show: Jane Archibald as Cunegonde is deftly acrobatic in the vocal fireworks of "Glitter and Be Gay", while Anne Sofie von Otter gleefully hams it up as the single-buttocked Old Lady".

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"Candide is one of Bernstein's best works ... though, it goes its own way, with a new connecting narration, written and performed by the German comedian Lorriot. The songs, fortunately, are sung in English ... What makes this recording stand out, though, is the punchy orchestral work, arguably the most vibrant this work has ever received ... if sound or orchestral contribution is a primary consideration, this is a plausible first choice".

"Candide is not 'an operetta': it's a Broadway show masquerading as an operetta - therein lies its genius ... With the exception of Thomas Allen as Pangloss/Narrator, the dialogue is laboriously overegged in a succession of funny voices and dubious foreign accents making for jokes that don't so much land as crash-land ... So a non-starter, I'm afraid".

"Alsop har altid haft et særligt forhold til Bernsteins musik, og her tager hun fat på hans mesterværk inden for operette, 'Candide' ... Værket er en hæsblæsende satire med skarpe tekster (bl.a. af Stephen Sondheim), geniale melodier og en 'bidsk' transatlantisk fortolkning af Voltaires oprindelig historie ... Holdet består bl.a. af Anne Sofie von Otter, Jane Archibald og Thomas Allen. 'Rytmerne smældede og knasede, farverne var klare, og energien svigtede ikke' skrev The Times".