Thu 3/9-Sat 3/11 @ 8PM
Sun 3/12 @ 2PM
Jonathon Field, long-time director of Oberlin Opera Theatre at Oberlin Conservatory is retiring after this school year after 26 years. And he’s going out in a big way: with Leonard Bernstein’s 1956 comic operetta Candide, based on the novella by 1759 Voltaire.
“Candide is a piece that transmits both hope and irony, and shows us the remarkable strength of the human spirit,” says Field. “It is a piece that is more of a musical than an opera, and it’s brought to life by our remarkable cast and production staff.”
The plot involves the naïve Candide who is studying with the philosopher Dr. Pangloss, who claims that everything that exists is for good. Ejected from his country, his wanderings, which include an earthquake, the Inquisition and the supposed death of his beloved, challenge this belief.
“Candide balances many dualities: hope and tragedy, a foreboding political message conveyed with a witty and playful tone, and existing both as a masterful operetta and a satire of one,” says Oberlin Opera Theatre’s press release. “The piece incorporates influences from Mozart to Gilbert and Sullivan, blending them into Bernstein’s unique musical style.”
Field directs the cast of vocal studies students and Raphael Jiménez conducts the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra in four performances at Hall Auditorium on campus. The opera is double case, with one cast performing Thursday and Saturday, the other Friday and Sunday. Tickets are $10, $8 for students. Go here to get them.