![]() ![]() ![]() Next, a lyrical contrast from the duet Oh, Happy We is stated. This, in the body of the show, becomes Battle Scene music. This seventh sets up an expectation of B flat major but, instead, there is a stumbling, like a pratfall, into E flat. In a 1964 program note, long-time Bernstein assistant Jack Gottlieb provided a succinct analysis of this frothy, rhythmic potpourri: “It begins with a fanfare built on the interval of a minor seventh, followed by a major second-typically Bernstein, which serves as a motto and as a basis for development, throughout the entire operetta. Louis Lane recorded it with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra in August 1958, and Bernstein made his own recording with the Philharmonic in September 1960 dozens more recordings and arrangements have followed. Bernstein introduced it with the New York Philharmonic on 26 January 1957 (while the original production was still playing on Broadway). For all the show’s struggles to find an ideal blend of dialogue, music and lyrics, its sparkling overture immediately found a prominent place in concert programs around the world. New York City Opera presented an “opera house version” in 1982, and Bernstein recorded the subsequent “Scottish Opera version” in 1989. But musically it was a poor relation to the original, using a reduced orchestra and omitting a good portion of the score. A new, small-scale version, conceived by Harold Prince with a revised book by Hugh Wheeler and additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, came to Broadway in 1974 and was, theatrically speaking, considerably more successful. Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records, recognized the brilliance of the show’s score and produced an album of highlights with the original cast that went on to become a bestseller and helped build a legend around the show. The book by illustrious playwright Lillian Hellman was generally deemed too serious and mismatched with the vitality and mocking lyricism of Bernstein’s music. Leonard Bernstein’s third Broadway musical, Candide (based on Voltaire’s 1759 novella), opened on 1 December 1956, but closed after only 73 performances. ![]()
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