Candide est une opérette avec de la musique de Leonard Bernstein, basée sur la nouvelle du même nom de Voltaire. Elle est jouée pour la première fois en 1956 avec un livret de Lillian Hellman mais, depuis 1974, elle est généralement interprétée avec un livret de Hugh Wheeler qui est plus fidèle au roman de Voltaire. Le parolier principal était le poète Richard Wilbur mais John Latouche, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, John Mauceri et John Wells ont également contribué aux paroles. Bien que ce fut un échec à sa création (73 représentations), Candide a aujourd'hui surmonté la réaction peu enthousiaste des premiers publics et premières critiques. Il est devenu très populaire.
Version I – Production originale à Broadway - 1956
Acte I
In the country of Westphalia, Candide is about to be married to the lovely Cune-gonde. Dr. Pangloss, Candide's teacher, expounds his famous philosophy, to the effect that all is for the best ("The Best of All Possible Worlds") The happy couple sing their marriage duet ("Oh, Happy We"), and the ceremony is about to take place ("Wedding Chorale") when war breaks out between Westphalia and Hesse. Westphalia is destroyed, and Cunegonde is seemingly killed. Candide takes comfort in the Panglossian doctrine ("It Must Be So") and sets out on his journeys.
In the public square of Lisbon ("Lisbon Fair"), the Infant Casmira, a deranged mystic in the caravan of an Arab conjuror, predicts dire happenings ("The Prediction"), leaving the public in terror ("Pray For Us"). Candide discovers Pangloss, who has contracted syphilis, yet remains optimistic ("Dear Boy"*). The Inquisition appears, in the persons of two ancient Inquisitors and their lawyer, and many citizens are tried and sentenced to hang, including Candide and Dr. Pangloss ("The Inquisition: AutodaFé"*). Suddenly an earthquake occurs, killing Dr. Pangloss, and Candide barely escapes.
Candide, faced with the loss of both Cunegonde and Dr. Pangloss, starts out for Paris. He is unable to reconcile Dr. Pangloss's ideas with the bitter events that have occurred, but concludes that the fault must lie within himself, rather than in the philosophy of optimism ("It Must Be Me").
Cunegonde turns up alive in Paris ("The Paris Waltz"), a demimondaine in a house shared by a Marquis and a Sultan. A party is in progress. Urged by the Old Lady, who serves as her duenna, Cunegonde arrays herself in her jewels ("Glitter and Be Gay"). Candide stumbles into the scene and is amazed to find Cunegonde still alive ("You Were Dead, You Know"). In a duel, he kills both the Marquis and the Sultan, and flees with Cunegonde, accompanied by the Old Lady.
They fall in with a band of devout Pilgrims on their way to the New World and sail with them ("Pilgrims' Procession" / "Alleluia"). Arriving in Buenos Aires, the group is brought to the Governor's Palace (where Maximilian is alive and working for the Governor), where all except Cunegonde and the Old Lady are immediately enslaved. A street cleaner appears in the person of the pessimistic Martin, warning Candide of the future. Candide and Maximilian are joyfully reunited, but when Candide states his intention to marry Cunegonde Maximilian starts to strike him with a glove. Candide starts to strike him back, but before he actually does Maximilian drops, apparently dead. The Governor serenades Cunegonde ("My Love") and she, abetted by the Old Lady, agrees to live in the palace ("I Am Easily Assimilated"). The Old Lady urges Candide to flee, but Candide, fired by reports of Eldorado from Martin, sets off to seek his fortune, planning to return for Cunegonde later ("Quartet Finale").
Acte II
In the heat of Buenos Aires, Cunegonde, the Old Lady and the Governor display their fraying nerves ("Quiet"), and the Governor resolves to get rid of the tiresome ladies. Candide returns from Eldorado ("Eldorado"), his pockets full of gold and searches for Cunegonde. The Governor, however, has had both Cunegonde and the Old Lady tied up in sacks and carried to a boat in the harbor. He tells Candide that the women have sailed for Europe, and Candide eagerly purchases a leaky ship from the Governor and dashes off. As the Governor and his suite watch from his terrace, the ship with Candide and Martin casts off and almost immediately sinks ("Bon Voyage").
Candide and Martin have been rescued from the ship, and are floating about the ocean on a raft. Martin is devoured by a shark, but Dr. Pangloss miraculously reappears. Candide is overjoyed to find his old teacher, and Pangloss sets about repairing the damage done to his philosophy by Candide's experiences.
In a luxurious palazzo of Venice ("Money, Money, Money"), Cunegonde turns up as a scrubwoman and the Old Lady as a woman of fashion (Madame Sofronia) ("What's the Use?"), both working as shills for Ferone, the owner of a gambling hall. Candide and Dr. Pangloss, both wearing masks, appear and are caught up by the merriment, the wine and the gambling. Candide is accosted by a masked Cunegonde and Old Lady, who try to steal his remaining gold ("The Venice Gavotte"), but recognizes Cunegonde when her mask falls off. His last hopes and dreams shattered, he drops his money at her feet and leaves. Cunegonde and the Old Lady are fired by Ferone and Pangloss is now penniless, having been completely swindled out of all his money.
With Candide now completely disillusioned, he and Pangloss return to the ruined Westphalia. Cunegonde, Maximilian (minus his teeth) and the Old Lady appear and within them a spark of optimism still flickers. Candide, however, has had enough of the foolish Panglossian ideal and tells them all that the only way to live is to try to make some sense of life ("Make Our Garden Grow").
Version II – Chelsea Production - 1973
At the close of the Overture, the aging Dr. Voltaire is roused from sleep in his four-poster to begin his story and to introduce the four young people who happily live in the castle of the Baron Thunder-Ten-Tronck in Westphalia: the bastard cousin Candide, the beautiful daughter Cunegonde, her handsome brother Maximillian, and the luscious serving maid Paquette. [Life is Happiness Indeed]
Through a quick change of wig and coat [Parade], Dr. Voltaire transform himself into Dr. Pangloss, the wise instructor of philosophy, who prances off with Candide, Paquette, Cunegonde and Maximillian to conduct his invaluable lessons in the classroom. [The Best of All Posible Worlds]
Paquette stays after class for her private session in advanced physics with Dr. Pangloss. Overcome by curiosity, Cunegonde returns to observe Paquette's lesson in the relative specific gravity of two bodies, male and female. After Dr. Pangloss graphically demonstrates the experiment, Cunegonde runs off happily to share her discovery with Candide. [Oh, Happy We]
Caught in the middle of their experiment by Maximillian and Cunegonde's furious father, the Baron, the two are yanked apart and Candide is forever banished from Westphalia. A lonely wanderer, Candide sadly contemplates his fate. [It Must Be So]
On the road, Candide is abducted by two men who take him away to join the Bulgarian Army, which is about to invade Westphalia. Cunegonde, Maximillian, the Baron and Baroness pray for safety. [O Miserere] The Bulgarians attack and kill all but Cunegonde, who is spared for the benefit of the Bulgarian regiment. After Cunegonde has fulfilled her function, she is tossed onto a pile of Westphalian corpses and left for dead. She sits and ponders her situation. [Oh, Happy We (reprise)]
All alone in the world Cunegonde survives by moving from brothel to brothel, until one day she ends up in Lisbon, enjoying the amorous attentions of a tremendously rich Jew, and an equally rich Grand Inquisitor, both of whom shower her with expensive jewels. [Glitter and Be Gay]
At the same time, Candide turns up in Lisbon, just after an enormous earthquake, only to find himself reunited with his beloved master Dr. Pangloss. Just as Candide learns of Cunegonde's apparent death, he and Pangloss are arrested as heretics and dragged off to be punished at the Autodafé. Pangloss is hanged and Candide is flogged unconscious, and left to die. An Old Lady appears who comforts the battered Candide. [This World]
The Old Lady nurses Candide and then leads him to none other than Cunegonde, still alive and yearning. [You Were Dead, You Know] The two immediately face a new crisis as the Grand Inquisitor and the tremendously rich Jew angrily confront the two lovers. Seeing no other alternative, Candide kills them both.
With the Old Lady, they quickly take flight and head for Cadiz. As the penniless trio wanders on, the Old Lady decides to repair their fortunes by seducing three Spaniards. [I Am Easily Assimilated]
In the New World-Cartagena, Columbia, to be exact-the hot-blooded Spanish Governor surveys the new prospects at the local slave market, two of whom happen to be Paquette and Maximillian, disguised as a senorita. It is the winsome Maximillian who attracts the Governor's lecherous eye. [My Love] Though Maximillian is exposed before marrying the Governor, he escapes death by joining a brotherhood of Jesuits.
Meanwhile, on a ship at sea [Barcarolle], Candide, Cunegonde, and the Old Lady are attacked by Barbary pirates who kidnap the two women and leave Candide lying on the deck. Heartbroken, he finally arrives alone at the Jesuits' stronghold in Montevideo. [Alleluia] Who should Candide meet there but first, Paquette, and then the long-lost Maximillian. Candide informs them that Cunegonde lives, which unfortunately rekindles his feud with Maximillian over Cunegonde's love life. A wild chase ensues, and Maximillian is crushed by a falling statue of St. Francis. Once again, Candide becomes a fugitive, this time with Paquette as companion.
After many weeks of treacherous journeying, Paquette and Candide stumble into the country of Eldorado, where everything does happen for the best, where the mud is gold and the streets are paved with diamonds. Even the animals are articulate, wise and gentle, including two friendly sheep and a lion. [Sheep's Song] Even in Paradise, though, Candide is not happy and longs to find his Cunegonde once again. He and Paquette decide to load their two friendly sheep with gold and escape from Eldorado.
After much more wandering, they end up back in Cartagena, Columbia, where they miraculously discover the Old Lady, long since abandoned by the Barbary pirates. She informs Candide that the pirates were headed for Constantinople to sell Cunegonde for the highest price. As it happens, the Governor overhears them and offers them passage on his frigate, the Santa Rosalia, which is leaving for Constantinople that very day. Marveling at their good fortune, Candide, Paquette, and the Old Lady board a skiff, as the Governor and the populace see them off. [Bon Voyage]
Unfortunately, the Governor not only swindled them out of their sheep, but also put them in a leaky skiff that sinks before reaching the frigate. Sometime later, the three weather-beaten travellers are washed up on a tiny desert island. But once again, fortune smiles upon them, as their two faithful sheep swim up to the desert island, still bearing the gold. [The Best of All Possible Worlds (reprise)]
They are soon rescued and immediately continue their trek to Constantinople to find Cunegonde. Safely arrived in Constantinople, they enter a Turkish palace where a lavish feast is in progress. A veiled dancing girl is entertaining at the banquet, and who should this girl be but Cunegonde. The lovers are reunited once more. [You Were Dead, You Know (reprise)]
Candide buys Cunegonde's freedom, only to discover that Maximillian is not dead but is a slave at the very same palace. Candide spends the remainder of the fortune to buy Maximillian who joins Candide, Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Lady. The destitute group departs. The Old Lady recalls that she knows of a local sage who will doubtless be able to solve their problems. The sage turns out to be ancient Dr. Pangloss, who can't seem to remember his former Westphalian pupils. Nevertheless, Candide begs Pangloss to tell them what the natural function of man is. Pangloss can't find the piece of paper on which the answer is written, but Candide spots it and picks it up himself, as Pangloss rattles on.
The paper reads: "What is the natural function of man? What was it in the Garden of Eden? Dig, spin, work without regret for yesterday or hope for tomorrow. For man, it is only work that makes life endurable."
Candide and Cunegonde resolve to adopt this new philosophy, return to Westphalia, and create their own Garden of Eden. [Make Our Garden Grow]
Version V – Final Revised Version - 1989
Acte I
The operetta begins with an overture. The chorus welcomes everyone to Westphalia ("Westphalia Chorale") and Voltaire begins to narrate his story. Candide, the illegitimate nephew of Baron Thunder-ten-Tronck, lives in the Baron's castle Schloss Thunder-ten-Tronck. He is snubbed by the Baroness and bullied by her son Maximilian. Paquette, a very accommodating serving girl, also lives in the castle. However, Candide is in love with Cunegonde, the Baroness' daughter as Maximilian, Candide, Cunegonde and Paquette find their happiness in life ("Life is Happiness Indeed"). The four discover that Dr. Pangloss, a man thought to be the world's greatest philosopher, has taught them happiness ("The Best of All Possible Worlds"). The philosopher asks his four students to summarize what they have learned ("Universal Good"). When Cunegonde spies Dr. Pangloss being physically intimate with Paquette, he explains it away as being a "physical experiment", and she decides to share the "experiment" with Candide. Professing their love to each other at a park, Candide and Cunegonde dream of what married life would look like ("Oh, Happy We"). The Baron, however, is angered at what Candide has done to Cunegonde, as he is a social inferior. Candide is promptly exiled, wandering alone with his faith and optimism to cling to ("It Must Be So"). He is then shanghaied by and into the Bulgar Army, which plots to "liberate" all of Westphalia. His escape attempt fails, and is recaptured by the Army. The Bulgar Army attacks Schloss Thunder-ten-Tronck and in the castle the Baron's family prays as the chorus joins in ("Westphalia"). However, the Baron, the Baroness, Maximilian, Paquette, Pangloss and (after being repeatedly ravished by the Bulgar Army) Cunegonde are all killed in the attack ("Battle Music"). Candide returns to the castle's ruins and searches for Cunegonde ("Candide's Lament").
Some time later, Candide becomes a beggar. He gives the last of his coins to Pangloss, who reveals that he was revived by an anatomist's scalpel. He then tells Candide of his syphilis condition brought on by Paquette ("Dear Boy"). A merchant offers the two employment before sailing off to Lisbon, Portugal. However, as they arrive, a volcano erupts and the ensuing earthquake results in the death of 30,000 people. Pangloss and Candide are blamed for the disaster, arrested as heretics and publicly tortured by order of the Grand Inquisitor. Pangloss is hanged and Candide is flogged ("AutodaFé"). Candide eventually ends up in Paris, France, where Cunegonde shares her favors (on different mutually-agreed-upon days of the week) with wealthy Jew Don Issachar and the city's Cardinal Archbishop ("The Paris Waltz"). She contemplates what she has done to survive while in Paris ("Glitter and Be Gay"). Candide finds Cunegonde and reunites with her ("You Were Dead, You Know"). However, the Old Lady, Cunegonde's companion, forewarns Cunegonde and Candide of Issachar and the Archbishop's arrival. Candide inadvertently kills both of them by stabbing them with a sword.
The three flee to Cadiz, Spain with Cunegonde's jewels, where the Old Lady tells Candide and Cunegonde about her past. The jewels are stolen and the Old Lady offers to sing for their dinner ("I Am Easily Assimilated"). The French police arrive, intending to arrest Candide for murdering Don Issachar and the Archbishop. Accepting an offer to fight for the Jesuits in South America, Candide decides to take Cunegonde and the Old Lady to the New World, and the three begin their journey on a ship ("Quartet Finale").
Acte II
In Montevideo, Uruguay, Maximilian and Paquette, now revived and disguised as slave girls, reunite. Soon after, Don Fernando d'Ibaraa y Figueroa y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza, the governor of the city, falls in love with Maximilian, but quickly realizes his mistake and sells him to a priest. Meanwhile, Candide, Cunegonde and the Old Lady also arrive in Montevideo, where the Governor falls in love with Cunegonde ("My Love"). The Old Lady convinces Cunegonde that her marriage to the governor will support her financially ("We Are Women"). Candide soon befriends Cacambo and accepts him as his valet. Convinced by the Old Lady that the police are still after Candide for the Archbishop's murder, Candide and Cacambo flee Montevideo and eventually stumble upon a Jesuit camp and are joined by the Father and Mother Superiors ("The Pilgrims' Procession – Alleluia"). Candide soon discovers that the Mother Superior is actually Paquette and the Father Superior is Maximilian. When Candide tells Maximilian that he will marry Cunegonde, however, Maximilian angrily challenges him to a fight. However, Maximilian is once again inadvertently stabbed to death by Candide. Candide is forced to flee into the jungle as a result.
Three years later, Cunegonde and the Old Lady discuss the miseries shared by the upper classes while the Governor doesn't want to hear their complaints ("Quiet"). Meanwhile, Candide and Cacambo are starving and lost in the jungles. Finding a boat in the ocean, they float downriver into a cavern for 24 hours until they finally reach Eldorado, the city of gold ("Introduction to Eldorado"). The two discover that the locals worship one god as opposed to three, palaces of science, rosewater and stones with cinnamon and clove scents. Dissatisfied without Cunegonde, Candide decides to leave. The locals think him foolish, but offer to help, giving him some of the town's golden sheep and constructing a lift that will guide him, Cacambo and the sheep over the mountain ("The Ballad of Eldorado"). One by one, the sheep die until only two remain. Unwilling to go back to Montevideo, Candide gives Cacambo one of the golden sheep to ransom Cunegonde, telling them that they will meet again in Venice, Italy.
Arriving at Suriname, Candide meets Martin, a local pessimist. He shows him a slave with one hand and one foot lost while harvesting sugarcane, which is the result of Europeans eating sugar; Candide is unable to convince Martin otherwise ("Words, Words, Words"). Vanderdendur, a Dutch villain, offers his ship, the Santa Rosalia, in exchange for the golden sheep. Candide is excited when he is told that the Santa Rosalia is to depart for Venice. The locals and Vandendur wish Candide a safe journey to Venice ("Bon Voyage"). However, the ship sinks and Martin drowns as a result. After reuniting with his golden sheep, Candide is picked up by a galley, meeting five deposed kings. The galley is rowed by slaves, including Pangloss, revived once again. The kings say that they will live humbly, serving both god and men, and Pangloss leads their debate ("The Kings' Barcarolle").
The ship arrives in Venice, where the Carnival festival is taking place ("Money, Money, Money"). While the kings play roulette and baccarat, Candide searches for Cunegonde. Maximilian, revived once again, is now the corrupt Prefect of Police and the town's leader. Paquette is now the town's reigning prostitute. Cunegonde and the Old Lady are employed to encourage the gamblers ("What's the Use?"). Pangloss celebrates a victory after winning roulette and spends his money on the other ladies ("The Venice Gavotte"). Candide, however, masked for the Carnival, is accosted by Cunegonde and the Old Lady (both of whom are also masked), who try to swindle him out of his money. During the exchange, all the masks come off and they are horrified to recognize each other. Seeing what Cunegonde has become, Candide's image of and belief in her is shattered ("Nothing More Than This"). Candide does not speak for several days; with what little money they have left, they purchase a small farm outside Venice and the chorus says that life is just life and paradise is nothing ("Universal Good"). Candide finally speaks and resolves to marry Cunegonde ("Make Our Garden Grow").
Version VI – NT Version - 1999
Acte I
Voltaire sits alone in the center of the stage. Suddenly his face lights up and The Overture begins, as if inspired by his fertile imagination. As the music continues the stage is flooded by all the Characters of his story. By the end of the overture they are assembled all around him and sing the Voltaire Chorale to the audience.
Voltaire starts to tell his story, which begins in the country of Westphalia in the castle of the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronck, introducing his central character Candide, the illegitimate son of the Baron's sister. Candide reveals his simplicity and innocence in Life is Happiness Indeed. The Baron's children, Maximilian and Cunegonde, take up the same tune to introduce themselves in Life is Happiness Unending, the chambermaid Paquette joining in the final chorus along with Candide. Thus life in the castle is painted as a structured and contented social Eden with everyone knowing their place, all blissful in their ignorance. Voltaire now introduces Pangloss — a part he plays himself — Maximilian's tutor and professor of metaphysico-theologico-cosmologico-panology, more simply described as "Optimism".
He reveals the full glory of his philosophical theory in a lesson [The Best of all Possible Worlds] in which he convinces his four young pupils of the depth and truth of his knowledge. Pangloss then conducts his class in a simple unaccompanied chorale of faithful affirmation. [Universal Good] All seems to be for the best . . . until Candide and Cunegonde fall in love and rashly assume they will spend the rest of their lives together in marital bliss. [Oh Happy We] The Baron is horrified at the thought of his daughter marrying a bastard and promptly kicks Candide out of the castle. [It Must Be So] Candide wanders off into the neighboring country of Bavaria where he is pressed into the army just in time to fight a war against his own country of Westphalia. After a series of appallingly brutal experiences, he deserts from the army and makes for Holland, where he is taken to a hospice for the sick and dying by a kindly Anabaptist called James. Here he meets his tutor Pangloss again, now hideously disfigured with disease. Pangloss tells Candide that the castle of ThundertenTronck was completely destroyed in the war, the Baron and his family wiped out and Cunegonde repeatedly raped and then killed by Bavarian soldiers. Candide is heartbroken. [Candide's Lament] The next day Pangloss tells Candide his own story which includes an affair with the chamber maid, Paquette, which has left him with a fatal dose of the pox. Candide is horrified but Pangloss justifies the disease with his customary optimism. [Dear Boy]
While Candide's story has taken him to the depths of despair in Holland, Cunegonde, contrary to Pangloss's belief, has survived the war despite being raped, and has been sold in sexual slavery to a series of soldiers and aristocrats in Paris and Vienna. [Paris Waltz] She ends up in Portugal, mistress to a wealthy Jewish banker, Don Issacar. While at mass one day she catches the eye of the Cardinal Inquisitor of Lisbon who forces Don Issacar into sharing Cunegonde's favours with him, on pain of a visit from the Inquisition. Thus Cunegonde is trapped, a victim of her own powers of attraction as well as her strong personal taste for luxury. [Glitter and Be Gay]
Pangloss recovers from the pox with the loss of only one ear and one eye. The kindly Anabaptist James has to go to Lisbon on business and decides to take along his new philosopher friends, Pangloss and Candide, but they are shipwrecked in the Bay of Portugal and James is drowned. Surviving the wreck, Pangloss and Candide have no sooner arrived in Lisbon than the city is struck by a devastating earthquake which kills thirty thousand of its citizens. Pangloss's attempt to justify this terrible event as philosophical necessity is overheard by agents of the Inquisition and both friends are arrested, Pangloss for blasphemy and Candide for listening to him. They are dragged before the Inquisition where the usual bunch of foreigners, heretics and Jews are being hanged and burned. After a mockery of a trial, Candide is flogged and Pangloss is hanged. [Autodafé] Witnessing these events is Cunegonde who is there as the guest of the Grand Inquisitor. In great secrecy she sends her servant, the Old Woman, to nurse Candide back to health.
A week later, Candide is taken to see Cunegonde at Don Issacar's palace. At first unable to believe that she is still alive, Candide is overjoyed to see her again and they have an ecstatic reunion. [You Were Dead, You Know] Don Issacar returns unexpectedly and in a rage of jealousy tries to kill Cunegonde. Candide intervenes and runs Don Issacar through with his sword. Enter the Grand Inquisitor, expecting a night of passion with Cunegonde. Overcome with jealousy and fear, and in revenge for Cunegonde's lost honour, Candide runs him through as well.
Candide, Cunegonde and the Old Woman flee into the mountains, heading for the Spanish border. They finally stop in the little town of Avacena in the hills of the Sierra Nevada. As they wait in the noonday sun for the end of the siesta, the Old Woman tells the story of her life to the young lovers — a fantastic tale of noble birth followed by appalling deprivation, poverty and distress. As the suspicious townsfolk awake from their siestas, the Old Woman makes friends with them. [I Am Easily Assimilated] By the end of the evening the newcomers have been joyfully assimilated into the life of the town. Candide is befriended by Cacambo, an honest and practical jack-of-all-trades, who offers himself as Candide's servant. The next day Candide, Cunegonde, Cacambo and the Old Woman ride off to Cadiz, resolved to escape the pursuit of the Inquisition by emigrating to the New World [Quartet Finale] and so Act One comes to a gloriously optimistic conclusion.
Acte II
Act Two opens in South America, on the quayside in Montevideo. As Candide and Cacambo go off in search of the Governor to get commissions in the army to fight against the Jesuit rebels, Cunegonde and the Old Woman consider the grim likelihood that they will be living in poverty in a dreary colonial outpost. The Old Woman reminds Cunegonde that they have at least retained their feminine charms — charms they could put to good use if required. [We Are Women] Candide returns with the Governor, a vainglorious womanizer who takes an instant fancy to Cunegonde. As Candide and Cacambo go off to review their new troops, the Governor declares his passion to Cunegonde. [My Love] Cunegonde is unhappy about betraying Candide but the Old Woman convinces her that marriage to the Governor would be financially advantageous to them all, including to Candide. The Governor takes Cunegonde off to his palace. Candide and Cacambo return to the quayside to find the Old Woman alone. She tells them a terrible lie — that a boat has just arrived from Portugal and the town is swarming with Inquisition men looking for the villain who killed the Grand Inquisitor. Candide and Cacambo flee in terror, Candide heartbroken once more to be parted from his precious Cunegonde.
Cacambo persuades Candide that if they can't fight against the Jesuits they should fight for them. They make their way through the jungle and arrive at the Jesuit camp where Candide is amazed to find that the Father Superior is none other than Maximilian, Cunegonde's brother, who was reported to have been killed at the same time as Cunegonde but who has had a similarly miraculous escape. [Alleluia] After a fond reunion, Candide explains that he intends to marry Cunegonde. Maximilian is so enraged at the prospect of his sister marrying a bastard commoner that he draws his sword to kill Candide, but before he can do so Candide runs him through and he and Cacambo are on the run once more. After a narrow escape from a tribe of philosophical cannibals, Candide and Cacambo arrive at an impassable river. A small canoe is moored to the bank. They have no choice but to get into it and drift downstream. The river turns into a raging torrent and speeds the two friends through underground chasms until they are finally spewed out on to the shores of a strange and magical kingdom. [The Ballad of Eldorado]
They stay for a few months in Eldorado, enjoying the pleasures of a Utopian paradise but Candide's longing to see Cunegonde moves them on. They set off from Eldorado with a vast quantity of gold and precious stones loaded onto a hundred sheep, but by the time they arrive in Surinam, all but two of the sheep have been lost in a variety of disastrous accidents. In Surinam they decide to part. It being too dangerous for Candide to return to Montevideo, Cacambo will take half the fortune and go there alone to rescue Cunegonde and the Old Woman while Candide sails to Venice with the rest of the treasure. They will all meet in Venice — a free state where they can live in peace and security. But within minutes of being parted from his friend, Candide is in trouble again. A malicious local merchant and pirate Vanderdendur cheats Candide out of his fortune and sails away leaving him to sink in a leaky little boat. [Bon Voyage]
Candide swims ashore and decides that there must be something wrong with himself as well as the world. [It Must Be Me] He advertises for a companion but insists that he will only employ the unhappiest and most unfortunate person in the whole colony of Surinam. An old road-sweeper called Martin gets the job. [Words, Words, Words] Candide and Martin set sail for Marseilles. On the way they witness the sinking of Vanderdendur's ship and Candide manages to save a large part of his fortune from the wreckage. Martin turns out to be the most pessimistic man Candide has ever met — the perfect antidote to the meaningless optimism of his old master, Pangloss. The two men change boats at Marseilles, boarding a Tunisian galley bound for Venice. And wonder of wonders — who should be rowing in the galley chained side by side but Pangloss and Maximilian. They have both had miraculous escapes from being hanged and stabbed respectively, and both have fallen foul of the Tunisian authorities for sexual misdemeanours and wound up on the same punishment ship. Candide, Martin, Maximilian and Pangloss arrive in Venice. [Money, Money, Money]
Candide rents a small palazzo on the Grand Canal. Pangloss and Maximilian take to the life at once, spending vast quantities of Candide's money in the casinos. Martin and Candide spend their days looking for Cunegonde, who should have arrived from Montevideo by now with Cacambo. Cunegonde is nowhere to be found but they do meet up with Paquette, the chamber-maid from the Baron's castle who tells them her story — a woeful tale of disease, prostitution and degradation. Then one night Candide and Martin find Cacambo. He had been imprisoned by monks on the cemetery island of San Michelle and forced to work as a grave-digger. He has lost all his half of the treasure and has become separated from Cunegonde and the Old Woman after arriving in Venice. But he has remained faithful to Candide, thus proving that honesty exists and that Martin's universal pessimism is not entirely justified.
The next night is the Carnival Ball at the Doge's Palace. Candide, Cacambo and Martin put on masks and go to the ball, sure that they will find Cunegonde there. At the ball, Candide is pursued all evening by a pair of rapacious women, also masked, who try to fleece him out of his money. [The Venice Gavotte] Pangloss arrives from the casino with a whole gaggle of prostitutes and hangers-on just as Candide starts to lose his patience and give up the search for the evening. Suddenly Candide realises who the masked women are. He rips the mask off one of their faces — it is Cunegonde. The other figure unmasks revealing herself to be the Old Woman. Candide is devastated by the terrible change in Cunegonde [Nothing More Than This] while Cunegonde herself is utterly humiliated.
In Candide's palazzo all is misery. Candide himself is silent and distant, refusing to talk to Cunegonde or anyone else. The rest of the 'family'- Cacambo, Paquette, the Old Woman, Maximilian and Pangloss are all stuck in their various miseries, only Martin attempting to cajole them out of their self-centered woe. [What's The Use]
Candide's silence remains unbroken. Then one night he is walking through the dark alleys of Venice when he sees six figures in the mist — all crowned. They get into a gondola and float down the Grand Canal towards the sea. As Candide follows from the shore he hears them discussing the temporary nature of power and their decision to return to a more natural way of life. [The King's Barcarolle] This is the inspiration that Candide was looking for. He returns to the palazzo at dawn and tells his 'family' that he is moving to the mountains. They can go or stay as they please, but the money goes with him. He also informs Maximilian that he intends to marry Cunegonde. Maximilian is still violently opposed to the marriage but is powerless to prevent it.
Of course the whole household agrees to go with Candide. They all walk for days until they arrive at a little valley high in the mountains. Here, Candide tells them, they will live, but they must all work. It is only work which will keep them all sane and healthy. They all agree but Pangloss and Martin start to argue as to whether this is an optimistic or pessimistic outcome. Candide interrupts them with a repeat of the chorale from the first scene [Universal Good] which everyone joins — an agreement to rid their lives of pointless theologies and philosophies.
Candide and Cunegonde pledge themselves to each other and to the growing of their garden. At the end of all their terrible misfortunes and arduous travels — after a lifetime of thinking and wondering and hoping, all that they can say is that they should live in peace, work hard, not hurt anyone else and make their garden grow. Their friends agree. [Make Our Garden Grow]