2024-2025 OPERA AND BALLET SEASON
Candide by Leonard Bernstein
Music pub.: Boosey & Hawkes
Italian representative: Casa Ricordi, Milan
Concertmaster and Conductor: KEVIN RHODES
Stage Direction and Choreography: RENATO ZANELLA
Set design: MAURO TINTI
Costume design: DANILO COPPOLA
Chorus master: PAOLO LONGO
A NEW PRODUCTION BY FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI DI TRIESTE IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH FONDAZIONE TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
Main characters and performers
Candide
ENRICO CASARI (13, 15, 21 June)
MARCO MIGLIETTA (14, 19, 22 June)
Maximilian / Captain / Tsar Ivan
FELIX KEMP (13, 15, 21 June)
MICHELE PATTI (14, 19, 22 June)
Cunegonde
TETIANA ZHURAVEL (13, 15, 21 June)
FRANCESCA BENITEZ (14, 19, 22 June)
Voltaire / Dr Pangloss / Martin / Cacambo
BRUNO TADDIA (13, 15, 21 June)
VALDIS JANSONS (14, 19, 22 June)
The Old Lady
MADELYN RENÉE (13, 15, 21 June)
BENEDETTA MAZZETTO (14, 19, 22 June)
The Governor / Vanderdendur / Ragotski
DAVID ASTORGA (13, 15, 21 June)
RAFFAELE FEO (14, 19, 22 June)
Paquette
ALOISA AISEMBERG (13, 15, 21 June)
ELEONORA FILIPPONI (14, 19, 22 June)
Inquisitor I / Charles Edward / Father Bernardo / First Jesuit
SAVERIO PUGLIESE
Inquisitor II / Croupier
YURI GUERRA
Inquisitor III / King Stanislau
GIULIO IERMINI
Sultan Achmet / Crook
XIN ZHANG
Hermann Augustus
ZHIBIN ZHANG
ORCHESTRA, CHORUS AND TECHNICIANS BY FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO GIUSEPPE VERDI DI TRIESTE
The Teatro Verdi’s successful season draws to a close with a rare gem: Candide by Leonard Bernstein. This brand-new staging is the result of a collaboration with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and marks the directorial debut of Renato Zanella—renowned choreographer of the Vienna State Opera and later of the SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana. On the podium, American conductor Kevin Rhodes leads this effervescent satire that moves freely between operetta, musical theatre, opera, and touches of jazz and Latin rhythms. Rhodes is an ideal choice for this iconic work of American music: a sophisticated and popular classic of the 20th century.
While in the 1950s Europe’s musical scene was embracing the avant-garde with increasingly challenging experiments that distanced mainstream audiences, Leonard Bernstein—despite the personal turmoil caused by McCarthy-era persecution—pursued a different path. His was an original, cultured and sophisticated voice, yet one that remained accessible: witty, ironic, and capable of capturing the audience’s imagination. With Candide, he created a contemporary stage work that introduced a new musical language while also serving as a vibrant, irreverent satire of power. The title, of course, comes from Voltaire’s 1759 novel, in which the young Candide is subjected to a series of extreme and absurd misfortunes. Through this, Voltaire sets out to expose the absurdity of Leibniz’s philosophical claim that ours is “the best of all possible worlds”—a notion he ridicules in the face of the evident suffering and despair that afflict much of humanity. Bernstein responded with a glittering score, infused with playful lyricism and a mischievous edge—a dazzling pastiche of styles woven seamlessly together. This musical vitality ensured Candide’s success from Broadway to the world’s leading opera houses, despite the complex history of its libretto. The latter underwent numerous revisions before reaching its definitive version in 1973, when Hugh Wheeler finally struck the perfect balance between the exuberance of the score and the text’s charming, at times genuinely laugh-out-loud, irony.
A unique opportunity for lovers of philosophy, literature, the English language, musicals, opera, operetta, jazzy spirit and Latin rhythms—to learn or remember with a smile, through song, play and dance. Candide is a satire that is deeply engaged without ever being heavy-handed: light, witty, and as graceful as the long parade of brilliant European dances that animate its richly textured score.
American conductor Kevin Rhodes, taking on Candide for the first time in Europe, shares his thoughts on the production and his joyful collaboration with Renato Zanella, with whom he is celebrating 30 years of uninterrupted artistic partnership this year: “Leonard Bernstein described Candide as his ‘musical love letter to Europe’—a characteristically Bernstein remark about a work originally written for the Broadway stage. I say ‘characteristically’ because Bernstein was always eager to break conventions and, like his famous idol Gustav Mahler, loved blending forms and styles to create something new and eclectic. But let’s be clear: Candide is not a Broadway musical. It is closer to an operetta, or even a Singspiel.
Zanella’s new direction brings out both the dual nature of the text and Bernstein’s subtle musical provocations, weaving in a rich tapestry of playful references to the world of games—sure to captivate the audience with a colourful carousel of childhood memories and affectionate echoes of the past.
After thousands of performances on Broadway—700 of them in 1973 alone—Candide now arrives in Trieste in its final operatic form, as immortalised in the celebrated 1989 Deutsche Grammophon recording. The production features a cast of outstanding voices, led by rising tenor Enrico Casari, who will go on to perform at Teatro San Carlo in Naples and make his debut at the Paris Opera. He alternates in the title role with Marco Miglietta, a native of Lecce. Sopranos Tetiana Zhuravel—soon to appear at Berlin’s Komische Oper—and Francesca Benitez bring pathos and brilliance to the role of the long-suffering Cunegonde, while the role of Dr Pangloss, the hapless embodiment of a discredited Leibniz, is entrusted to the philosopher-baritone Bruno Taddia, alternating with the distinguished Latvian singer Valdis Jansons. Completing the cast is American mezzo-soprano and former Pavarotti stage partner Madelyn Renée, in the delightfully brazen role of the Old Lady, joined by rising talent Benedetta Mazzetto. The ensemble also includes Felix Kemp, Michele Patti, Raffaele Feo, and Eleonora Filippini.
Throughout the month of June, the Teatro Stabile of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Teatro Verdi in Trieste are offering audiences a special opportunity: by presenting a ticket for “Alegría – In a New Light” by Cirque du Soleil at any physical box office (online purchases excluded), you can receive a 15% discount on tickets for Tosca, Carmina Burana, and the Morricone Concert at San Giusto, as well as Bernstein’s Candide at Teatro Verdi. The exchange is reciprocal, so with a ticket for Candide, Tosca, Carmina Burana and Concerto Morricone you can get the same 15% discount on the purchase of tickets for “Alegría – In a New Light” at selected performances.
PERFORMANCES:
A – Friday 13 June 2025, 8:00 PM
C – Saturday 14 June 2025, 7:00 PM
D – Sunday 15 June 2025, 4:00 PM
B – Thursday 19 June 2025, 8:00 PM
S – Saturday 21 June 2025, 4:00 PM
E – Sunday 22 June 2025, 4:00 PM