Leonard Bernstein's
Synopsis
Act 1
Leonard Bernstein’s Candide is based on Voltaire’s famed satirical
novella of the same name. The story begins in the German province of
Westphalia, in the schloss (castle) of Baron Thunder-Ten-Tronck. There
Cunegonde and Maximilian, the beautiful daughter and son of the Baron,
Paquette, a saucy servant girl, and our wide-eyed hero, Candide, a
bastard cousin, are extremely happy because they know they are living in
the best of all possible worlds. They have been taught Optimism by their
tutor, the idealistic Dr. Pangloss. Candide and Cunegonde fall in love, but
once their feelings are discovered Candide is exiled with only his faith in
Optimism to cling to. Candide is then tricked into joining the Bulgar Army
which attacks Westphalia and kills the Baron’s family and household,
including Paquette and Pangloss.
Some time later Candide, now a beggar, finds Pangloss,
miraculously alive1, and they sail to Lisbon, Portugal, arriving just in time
to be blamed for a volcano, arrested as heretics, and tried in the Spanish
Inquisition. In an auto-da-fé (act of faith) Pangloss is hanged and Candide
is flogged. Upon regaining consciousness Candide resumes his travels,
while beginning to doubt Optimism…
Candide arrives in Paris where Cunegonde has captivated two
powerful men: Don Issachar and the Cardinal Archbishop of Notre Dame.
Candide and Cunegonde blissfully reunite, but, upon being discovered by
Cunegonde’s lovers, Candide kills them both, forcing the couple to flee.
Joined by Cunegonde’s companion, the Old Lady, , they sail to Cadiz,
Spain. On the way, when Cunegonde’s jewels are stolen, the Old Lady
1
Characters dying and improbably being brought back to life is an element of the
“picaresque” novel, which Voltaire used to satirize Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz’
philosophy of Optimism, which was popular when Candide was published in 1759.
Picaresque novels feature a series of improbably adventures loosely tied together by
impossible coincidences.
offers to help restore their fortunes. When that fails, the impoverished trio
sail to the New World.
Act 2
In Buenos Aires, Paquette and Maximilian, now revived and
disguised, are being auctioned as slave-girls. The Governor falls in love
with Maximilian but discovers his mistake in time to instead choose
Cunegonde. After telling Candide to flee, the Old Lady convinces
Cunegonde that marriage to the Governor will support her.
Candide, with a native guide named Cacambo, stumbles through
the South American jungle and finds a camp of Jesuits where he learns
that the Mother and Father Superior are none other than Paquette and
Maximilian. When Candide learns that Maximilian still views him as an
unacceptable brother-in-law, he kills him, and again must flee.
Meanwhile, the Old Lady and Cunegonde, still unwed to the Governor
after three years, are still in Buenos Aires. Candide and the faithful
Cacambo, lost in the jungle, find a boat and float down river into a cavern,
finally emerging in Eldorado, the city of gold. Candide takes enough
golden sheep to ransom Cunegonde and, with the help of the locals, he
and Cacambo leave Eldorado. Only three sheep survive the arduous trek
over the mountains to the Dutch colony of Suriname. Afraid to risk arrest
by returning to Buenos Aires, Candide sends Cacambo with one sheep to
ransom Cunegonde and to rendezvous with him in Venice.
Vanderdendur, a local Dutch merchant, offers Candide the Santa Rosalia,
a sailing ship bound for Venice in exchange for one sheep. The villagers
wish him a safe voyage. Of course, the ship sinks. A passing galley
rowed by slaves, one of whom is Pangloss, rescues Candide and his last
remaining sheep.
Miraculously, the galley actually arrives in Venice at Carnival time.
Maximilian is now the corrupt Prefect of Police, and Paquette is the
town’s reigning prostitute. Ragotski, the Casino’s owner, has employed
Cunegonde and the Old Lady to encourage gambling. Candide
recognizes Cunegonde’s voice but is unable to believe that this greedy
woman could also be his true love.
With his one remaining sheep Candide buys a small farm outside
Venice, generously allowing Paquette, Maximilian, Cacambo, Pangloss,
the Old Lady, and even Cunegonde to live with him there. For days while
his companions whine and complain, Candide remains silent. Candide
finally speaks: “We are not what we were, nor do we wish to be…Marry
me, Cunegonde, And let us try/Before we die/To make some sense of
life/We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good/We'll do the best we
know/We'll build our house and chop our wood/And make our garden
Leonard Bernstein's
grow...”