This original verson, with a book by Lillian Hellman, and lyrics by Richard Wilbur, Bernstein, Hellman, John La Touche, and Dorothy Parker, was a flop on Broadway, closing after 73 performances. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, “we must cultivate our garden”, in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, “all is for the best” in the “ best of all possible worlds“.Ĭandide has long been popular to adapt for the stage, and in 1956, it was musicalized by Leonard Bernstein.

The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide’s slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Per Wikipedia: It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply “optimism”) by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. That’s the question at the heart of Candide, a philosophical treatise written by the philospher Voltaire in 1789. Can it be said that we live in the best of all possible worlds? Is there reason to maintain an optimistic outlook, or must we just concede the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, and we must just give up and accept our fate? The oceans are rising, weather is getting more extreme, and we’re mortgaging our future to pay for today. We’re constantly at the throats of others due to partisan policies.

We have leaders that disrespect their offices, and that never demonstrate leadership or high morals.

We’re in a society that is filled with school shootings and violence.

La opera candide