I feel very strongly that the song “Nothing More Than This,” was the first time that Candide realizes who Cunegonde really is, and begins to come to terms with the journey he has been on. I made the point in class that it is in this moment, when he put Cunegonde in her place, that she truly hears what he is saying, and that this is what sparks her transformation at the end of the opera. However, although I do believe that Cunegonde understood the significance of his words, she has yet to change. In the recording I have of this opera, Bernstein Conducts Candide, the narration states that “Cunegonde’s nagging gets worse and worse,” and that “Candide does not speak.” I completely forgot about the next song, “Universal Good,” in which the text states:
“Life is neither good nor bad. Life is life and all we know.
Good and bad and joy and woe Are woven fine, are woven fine.
All the travels we have made, All the evils we have known, Even paradise itself,
Are nothing now, are nothing now.”
It isn’t until after this song is sung by the chorus that both Candide and Cunegonde accept the past, and accept one another for who they truly are, because they love each other. Candide finally speaks, and asks Cunegonde to marry him. It is at this point that we hear “Make our Garden Grow.” Knowing the back story makes “Make our Garden Grow” so much more powerful. It gives meaning to the words they are singing and it no longer seems so random and out of place. I know that this is a satirical opera and allows for liberties to be taken, but there is a serious undertone to this opera, and I feel that the two pieces that were cut out are incredibly vital to this work, and not including them detracts from the message and believability of the opera.
Bernstein Cunducts Candide, Leonard Bernstein. Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Digital Stereo 449 656-2, 1991.
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