How is it possible that some people don't like this video when the composer of this work of genius is conducting it himself? Surely he would have chosen his star voice to sing this brilliant piece. Yes the tempo is slow, but it is led by its creator!
Théo Goldberg when??? I don’t believe that for a second. Cite your source. Anderson has always said singing was her greatest pleasure and especially her time singing with Bernstein...
How could you not love this? Anderson at the top of her game overplaying the "Diva-ness" and really making the most of the words. Plus Bernstein is conducting
If you know the whole history of this performance, the entire cast got sick (Bernstein discusses this at the beginning of the performance) in the days preceding the performance -- you can hear the heavy congestion in June Anderson's voice. Note the impressed look on the faces of her fellow cast members -- they were clearly worried, especially Jerry Hadley, but she showed them that cold or no cold, she could kick butt.
Right. Everybody, singers, musicians, conductor/composer suffered from a bad flu during the concert (also before and after, of course), so their performance must be appreciated even more. Difficult to play, difficult to sing. Phantastic job. I bought the DVD a while ago and just enjoy watching the entire concert again every now and then.
This is Berstein's piece and he is conducting....his LOVE for June Anderson puts any argument as to how this song should be performed to rest; she owns this piece not only because her performance is the most breath taking and extraordinary, but because it was given to her by the creator of it.
Fabuleuse June Anderson, choisie par Lenny Bernstein lui même et ils s'adorent tous les 2. Il faut voir aussi ce que fait Natalie Dessay en version concertante à Glyndebourne et qui est magnifique de folie et vocale et expressive!
That's a Divine Berstein!! Close to God and to all of us whose love and ammiration are sublime to you. With June -faithfull to the blessed moment. Thank you and see you -Leonard in the Eternity where I want to be with you to celebrete God's gift and immensity
Astonishing...and what he says in his speech about her being ill is true - I was having treatment in Harley Street at the time and a call came through for the voice specialist to go over to the Barbican to treat her!
I'm sorry to share my taste here but Joan S. sings a note and I fall asleep right away. With all due respect, and her legacy I respect, still... Real sleeping powder magic had she to me 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
June Anderson is the girl for that job!!!! And Lord she makes the job done like Heeeeell Goood! Brilliant coloraturas though the voice is very large. Rare...
you should hear the wonderful tribute lenny gives june at the end of the concert; it's very sweet - she had been sick leading up to the concert and recovered just before
How fabulous! er voice is amazing! I have always loved this song! I just saw the new production in Chicago and was highly impressed by Glitter and Be Gay and the entire production! Too bad Lenny could not have been here for it!
Leonard Bernstein was conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic, arguably the best orchestras in the world, and continues to this day to be the quintessential american conductor. Anderson is sitting next to Jerry Hadley, who was the leading American tenor for 20 years and was principal tenor of the Met. How is this unprofessional?
One of my lady mentors is a dear friend of June Anderson, and she was there that night. Ms. Anderson had laryngitis, and couldn’t really speak. If you zoom in, her tongue is unusually red, probably from throat lozenges. In my opinion, Ms. Anderson’s voice has never been the same after this performance, and there’s a “white noise” in the high notes.
OMG SHE IS SOOOO GOOD! I never realized the song was from Candide! And she looks like Cundegund too, and acts her out brilliantly! (Since Cungegunde's like a back-then dumb blonde). It's brilliant! Bravo! I usually hate opera but that was fantastic!
this is one of the better ones i've heard. i'm partial to the first recording by barbara cook (especially how she performs the laughing section), but this is great.
Why did she have the score with her??? (Not that I don't know sometimes pros use it because of the details, but I've seen others perform it without) I love her interpretation, it's so very different and musch softer than the ones I've seen by Dessay, Damrau and Chenowith... it's wondrous and feminine, not like she's a crazy ps-ps-ps-psycho
Actually kenny6446, its labeled as an aria in the score, so you COULD call it an aria. And Bernstein made several version of Candide and this is obviously his operatic version (hence the opera singers and arias and what-not).
News flash: Candide is NO opera. It has been, is, and always will be nothing more than a mere operetta, a LIGHT opera. Hence, it IS about the acting. Although Anderson is an incredible singer and she did a fantastic job with this, she is BY NO MEANS the best who ever touched this.
Ms Chenoworth is making a musical gag with a beautiful voice, Ms Anderson is impersonating the character of Cunegonde. She is acting too, very well, it's her voice, darker in timbre, more operatic, that makes her sound more serious. Never forget that opera solos takes to much concentration to allow you much mimic and many gestures
Agree with your comment mostly, except for the fact that Fleming is a full lyric, not a coloratura. She does manage to sing this piece pretty well, though. June owns this song above all others.
'Glitter' as in 'shine like a precious stone', and 'be gay' as in 'be cheerful'. Of course, Bernstein was playing with the meaning of the word 'gay' here, but on the surface, so to speak, it means that: be cheerful and happy.
I really feel June Anderson owns this song more than anyone else on youtube. So many otherwise amazing coloraturas (including Fleming, Demrau and Dessay) and even Broadway stars (like Chenowith) ham this up something dreadful, but it's much funnier when peformedmore sincerely. The key line--where most of them go way over the top, but which Anderson plays just right--is "If I'm not pure at least my jewels are!" And of course she can do the trills spectacularly.
You are wrong astroboy ,it was Barbara Cook the first who sang it ib 1956 and like Joan was prepared by the composer.For me Cook os still the best Cunegunde I ever heard Listen the way she sings the haha section,.Mahbe Anderson is the second best for me because only both singers sinfg the hahah section as Berstein wanted
astroboy royale Not quite, not quite. The original Cunegonde is Barbra Cook (the best as well - and not to talk about the fact she totally nailed while not even being an opera singer). She sang it in 1956, in the original production of Candide. Her interpretaion is of the highest in positive scoring by many critics, and even Leonard Bernstein himself said about Barbra that she had a "lot of vocal courage and an immensly gorgeous voice". And also, just a small fact, Barbra was such a high quality singer that she made Bernstein change a note in the score (the high C after the "Here I droop my wings" was changed from a plain cut-off to the descending scale on a de-crescendo (diminuendo). So yea, there you go.
is she reading from the score? o__O the timing seems to be lagging a bit for some reason. june has some pipes on her though. i really like her higher register. :]
@flipsyboy That's the secret of comedy: You have to play it in earnest, like Carol Channing. If you go "hehe, look, I am FUNNY!" you've missed the point entirely. Anderson, although I really do not like her later career, here sings this *spot* on for its full comedic talent.
@flipsyboy Fleming is not a coloratura. She is a full lyric, but all sopranos must be capable of singing malismas (coloratura passages), and, since she is so famous and popular, she can choose what she'd like to sing in concert. She would rarely be cast in a true coloratura role, however.
@Maestrojosh87 exactly. and even in a real opera, if you don't act through singing, everyone will think "wow, that was just terrible". what's the point of having such a great voice if no one wants to listen
Obviously you have to give Anderson credit. It just seems like she was getting warmed up at the beginning of the piece and really just got into it by the end (the Eb sounded outstanding.) Also, Anderson sang with an operatic timbre, which works in some sections, but I think a lighter voice should be used for the faster sections. Also, this is going to sound strange, but it feels like in this version the tempo in the beginning is too slow, which shouldn't be because it's Bernstein conducting.
@norisv I think they understand the music just fine. The show is quite silly. Embracing the whimsy doesn't make the writing seem any worse, it just makes sense in the context of the show. If this version were done in an actual production of Candide it would be off-putting and dull. Anderson's voice is quite strong though.
Barbara Cook reigns supreme, in my opinion. She the vocal, operatic maturity of voice that Chenoweth is slightly lacking, and she has the character, brightness, and vitality that seems almost lost in Anderson's interpretation.
I'm always amazed that anyone can sing this Aria, but I have to say Diana Damrau is one of the best. Of all the versions I've heard, Kristin Chenoweth's version is the only one that clearly pronunciates all the ha's and hits the lower notes at the same time-- and she's Broadway trained!
@jtg10795 a very common opinion these days and I am open to what you're saying. I do disagree with it, I have seen Candide actually with Chenowith, and felt the exact same sentiments then. Bear in mind this is a concert version of Candide and Anderson does not have this memorized, she can only do so much. My thoughts on the matter are that opera is about singing and not acting, the composer has already put the emotion into the music. Acting is less important, it will come to you if you listen!
Ms Chenoweth is pretty, very musical, she has a nicely educated voice (some problems with coloratura, though) and is extremely funny to look at. I enjoyed her performance a lot, but it was a gag, after all. Ms Anderson has a truly operatic voice, imposing and very dark in timbre for a high soprano such as she is. Here she gives her soul to the aria (she was ill, as the rest of the cast), sings it beautifully and acts two as if she were onstage. She is less pretty but not less dedicated
Damrau's, Dessay's and Chenowith's versions are far more comical when you get to see how they move on stage . Anderson does a better job in phrasings than the rest of them, she's the one who holds the first half of the aria altogether. The others make Bernstein's piece sound quite poorly written because they sing and try too hard to make it whimsical without understanding the music.
@crazysinger111 really? because without that mic you wouldn't hear chenowith. Candide is an opera not a musical theater piece. Therefore it's only about the singing, not the cutesy little acting, Chenowith's voice would never be heard above june anderson. Obviously Anderson is the better singer if the composer of the opera has her sing while he's conducting.
If Bernstein didn't want it just like this, he wouldn't have conducted it just like this. I love it. And she's glorious!
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How is it possible that some people don't like this video when the composer of this work of genius is conducting it himself? Surely he would have chosen his star voice to sing this brilliant piece. Yes the tempo is slow, but it is led by its creator!
For me rth ebest performance of this aria is still Barbara Cook the singer whio introduced it inb 1956
Can you actually believe that June Anderson stated that singing was a pain in the ass to her?!!!!
Théo Goldberg when??? I don’t believe that for a second. Cite your source. Anderson has always said singing was her greatest pleasure and especially her time singing with Bernstein...
How could you not love this? Anderson at the top of her game overplaying the "Diva-ness" and really making the most of the words. Plus Bernstein is conducting
If you know the whole history of this performance, the entire cast got sick (Bernstein discusses this at the beginning of the performance) in the days preceding the performance -- you can hear the heavy congestion in June Anderson's voice. Note the impressed look on the faces of her fellow cast members -- they were clearly worried, especially Jerry Hadley, but she showed them that cold or no cold, she could kick butt.
Each time I watch to this video, I'm touched by how passionate she sings it... It's really special... And her voice... It's marvellous...
How can the live audience not stand and give this performance a standing ovation
?
Right. Everybody, singers, musicians, conductor/composer suffered from a bad flu during the concert (also before and after, of course), so their performance must be appreciated even more. Difficult to play, difficult to sing. Phantastic job. I bought the DVD a while ago and just enjoy watching the entire concert again every now and then.
I absolutely love hearing her sing the laughs. I love how clear all of the h's are, it actually sounds like a laugh more than just a chance to belt!
Simply outstanding and the magnetic June simply Divine
I just have to say the orchestra sounds AMAZING here. Probably the most beautiful I've ever heard it.
Both Amazing!!!!
This is Berstein's piece and he is conducting....his LOVE for June Anderson puts any argument as to how this song should be performed to rest; she owns this piece not only because her performance is the most breath taking and extraordinary, but because it was given to her by the creator of it.
June Anderson is so lovely here with her acting and she was at the top of her game. So sad to see Jerry Hadley in these clips.
Fabuleuse June Anderson, choisie par Lenny Bernstein lui même et ils s'adorent tous les 2.
Il faut voir aussi ce que fait Natalie Dessay en version concertante à Glyndebourne et qui est magnifique de folie et vocale et expressive!
bellissima e insuperata, June Anderson un capolavoro!
Quelle voix!!!!
Grandissimo Leonard! Quanto ci manchi!
Simply the best better than all the rest🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
WOW!!!! Qué maravilla!!! Es fabulosa esta mujer!!!
Took the words right out of my mouth...
BOMBA !!!!!!!!!
That's a Divine Berstein!! Close to God and to all of us whose love and ammiration are sublime to you. With June -faithfull to the blessed moment. Thank you and see you -Leonard in the Eternity where I want to be with you to celebrete God's gift and immensity
THIS IS MUSIC!
What an amazing performance!! I miss Lenny Bernstein as such an amazing character in the classical music world!!
I've been looking for the music score for months! just LOVE the performance!
Astonishing...and what he says in his speech about her being ill is true - I was having treatment in Harley Street at the time and a call came through for the voice specialist to go over to the Barbican to treat her!
Purely by vocal performance, I think this and Dawn Upshaw's performances of this piece are the best. Very different, but I think equally brilliant.
Love June Anderson.....This and the Peter's version are the best in my book. Too bad Sutherland didn't give this a go just for fun............
I would die to hear Joan sing this!!!
Daaaamn. What a shame truly
I'm sorry to share my taste here but Joan S. sings a note and I fall asleep right away. With all due respect, and her legacy I respect, still... Real sleeping powder magic had she to me 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
June Anderson is the girl for that job!!!! And Lord she makes the job done like Heeeeell Goood! Brilliant coloraturas though the voice is very large. Rare...
Utterly amazing!
Two great American musicians... Bravo...
you should hear the wonderful tribute lenny gives june at the end of the concert; it's very sweet - she had been sick leading up to the concert and recovered just before
Beautiful.
Also, I LOVE Leonard Bernstein at 6.10, so passionate.
A best of all worlds performance.
I love June's voice.
I'm playing this at my orchestra :D... What a coincidence that the video happened to be uploaded on my birthday!
How fabulous! er voice is amazing! I have always loved this song! I just saw the new production in Chicago and was highly impressed by Glitter and Be Gay and the entire production! Too bad Lenny could not have been here for it!
i love the conducter...real passion
Leonard Bernstein was conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic, arguably the best orchestras in the world, and continues to this day to be the quintessential american conductor. Anderson is sitting next to Jerry Hadley, who was the leading American tenor for 20 years and was principal tenor of the Met. How is this unprofessional?
Wonderful
Bernstein is a Genius!!!
I feel so lucky I've worked with Jeff Cohen a pianist very close to her.
The best performance.
i love her "ha's". and her coloratura is simply flawless. but i still love what cheno and diana damrau bring to the character more.
oh my mistake - you included his speech at the end!! nice touch!
One of my lady mentors is a dear friend of June Anderson, and she was there that night. Ms. Anderson had laryngitis, and couldn’t really speak. If you zoom in, her tongue is unusually red, probably from throat lozenges. In my opinion, Ms. Anderson’s voice has never been the same after this performance, and there’s a “white noise” in the high notes.
did anyone recognize christa´s smile on june´s "cage"? so sweet
OMG SHE IS SOOOO GOOD! I never realized the song was from Candide! And she looks like Cundegund too, and acts her out brilliantly! (Since Cungegunde's like a back-then dumb blonde). It's brilliant! Bravo! I usually hate opera but that was fantastic!
Grandioso!!!
this is one of the better ones i've heard. i'm partial to the first recording by barbara cook (especially how she performs the laughing section), but this is great.
Why did she have the score with her??? (Not that I don't know sometimes pros use it because of the details, but I've seen others perform it without) I love her interpretation, it's so very different and musch softer than the ones I've seen by Dessay, Damrau and Chenowith... it's wondrous and feminine, not like she's a crazy ps-ps-ps-psycho
@thefabulousmark - Full agreement - just saw it last night and it was wonderful.
Actually kenny6446, its labeled as an aria in the score, so you COULD call it an aria. And Bernstein made several version of Candide and this is obviously his operatic version (hence the opera singers and arias and what-not).
I would love to have the camera on Bernstein... what a auto-da-show!
Yes, I'd agree with you on it. And, besides, even you know it's an operetta, so thanks for backing me up on that!
cheers :)
News flash: Candide is NO opera. It has been, is, and always will be nothing more than a mere operetta, a LIGHT opera. Hence, it IS about the acting. Although Anderson is an incredible singer and she did a fantastic job with this, she is BY NO MEANS the best who ever touched this.
Ms Chenoworth is making a musical gag with a beautiful voice, Ms Anderson is impersonating the character of Cunegonde. She is acting too, very well, it's her voice, darker in timbre, more operatic, that makes her sound more serious. Never forget that opera solos takes to much concentration to allow you much mimic and many gestures
It is an interesting version of Anderson....I love the faces of the violinists and the clarinetist by the way! And when Dessay sings is even funnier
Agree with your comment mostly, except for the fact that Fleming is a full lyric, not a coloratura. She does manage to sing this piece pretty well, though. June owns this song above all others.
'Glitter' as in 'shine like a precious stone', and 'be gay' as in 'be cheerful'. Of course, Bernstein was playing with the meaning of the word 'gay' here, but on the surface, so to speak, it means that: be cheerful and happy.
makes me sad to see Jerry Hadley in the background there :-(
I really feel June Anderson owns this song more than anyone else on youtube. So many otherwise amazing coloraturas (including Fleming, Demrau and Dessay) and even Broadway stars (like Chenowith) ham this up something dreadful, but it's much funnier when peformedmore sincerely. The key line--where most of them go way over the top, but which Anderson plays just right--is "If I'm not pure at least my jewels are!" And of course she can do the trills spectacularly.
gavman888.. that 'guy' is the LSO's concert master, it's kinda important that he's there you know.
the only possible Cunegunde, the one the composer wrote this music for, the great June Anderson.
You are wrong astroboy ,it was Barbara Cook the first who sang it ib 1956 and like Joan was prepared by the composer.For me Cook os still the best Cunegunde I ever heard Listen the way she sings the haha section,.Mahbe Anderson is the second best for me because only both singers sinfg the hahah section as Berstein wanted
astroboy royale Not quite, not quite. The original Cunegonde is Barbra Cook (the best as well - and not to talk about the fact she totally nailed while not even being an opera singer). She sang it in 1956, in the original production of Candide. Her interpretaion is of the highest in positive scoring by many critics, and even Leonard Bernstein himself said about Barbra that she had a "lot of vocal courage and an immensly gorgeous voice". And also, just a small fact, Barbra was such a high quality singer that she made Bernstein change a note in the score (the high C after the "Here I droop my wings" was changed from a plain cut-off to the descending scale on a de-crescendo (diminuendo). So yea, there you go.
is she reading from the score? o__O
the timing seems to be lagging a bit for some reason.
june has some pipes on her though. i really like her higher register. :]
she's my favourite Cunegonde
@flipsyboy That's the secret of comedy: You have to play it in earnest, like Carol Channing. If you go "hehe, look, I am FUNNY!" you've missed the point entirely. Anderson, although I really do not like her later career, here sings this *spot* on for its full comedic talent.
just to add, they were sick on this day, they had fever/cold. June was ill too i heard.
the late Jerry Hadley, in his prime...
@flipsyboy Fleming is not a coloratura. She is a full lyric, but all sopranos must be capable of singing malismas (coloratura passages), and, since she is so famous and popular, she can choose what she'd like to sing in concert. She would rarely be cast in a true coloratura role, however.
Because these are the first words of the aria.
@Maestrojosh87 exactly. and even in a real opera, if you don't act through singing, everyone will think "wow, that was just terrible". what's the point of having such a great voice if no one wants to listen
Agreed... Diana Damrau's is untouchable.
Does anyone have the full version of this??
Obviously you have to give Anderson credit. It just seems like she was getting warmed up at the beginning of the piece and really just got into it by the end (the Eb sounded outstanding.) Also, Anderson sang with an operatic timbre, which works in some sections, but I think a lighter voice should be used for the faster sections. Also, this is going to sound strange, but it feels like in this version the tempo in the beginning is too slow, which shouldn't be because it's Bernstein conducting.
@Serenity202 hmmm, that's probably why mr bernstein explained (to the audience) that everyone had been sick.
@norisv I think they understand the music just fine. The show is quite silly. Embracing the whimsy doesn't make the writing seem any worse, it just makes sense in the context of the show. If this version were done in an actual production of Candide it would be off-putting and dull. Anderson's voice is quite strong though.
Barbara Cook reigns supreme, in my opinion. She the vocal, operatic maturity of voice that Chenoweth is slightly lacking, and she has the character, brightness, and vitality that seems almost lost in Anderson's interpretation.
I'm always amazed that anyone can sing this Aria, but I have to say Diana Damrau is one of the best. Of all the versions I've heard, Kristin Chenoweth's version is the only one that clearly pronunciates all the ha's and hits the lower notes at the same time-- and she's Broadway trained!
Kristin Chenoweth was a classically trained singer who decided to go to Broadway.
This is the best one, right? Anyway, it's wicked good...
@jtg10795 a very common opinion these days and I am open to what you're saying. I do disagree with it, I have seen Candide actually with Chenowith, and felt the exact same sentiments then. Bear in mind this is a concert version of Candide and Anderson does not have this memorized, she can only do so much. My thoughts on the matter are that opera is about singing and not acting, the composer has already put the emotion into the music. Acting is less important, it will come to you if you listen!
Hot damn. I refuse to listen to this aria unless June Anderson is the one singing it. OMGZ.
Diana Damrau owns this piece, nothing to it. Her stage presence and vocal ability is amazing. Look her up.
Has anyone else noticed how much she looks like Joan Sutherland? It's the cheekbones I think.
@TyrannasaurusJosie Haha, I agree that she over embellishes certain moods, but I do think that it adds to the performance as a comedy.
who's the guy sitting with the notes behind Anderson?
This is super human singing!
Ms Chenoweth is pretty, very musical, she has a nicely educated voice (some problems with coloratura, though) and is extremely funny to look at. I enjoyed her performance a lot, but it was a gag, after all.
Ms Anderson has a truly operatic voice, imposing and very dark in timbre for a high soprano such as she is.
Here she gives her soul to the aria (she was ill, as the rest of the cast), sings it beautifully and acts two as if she were onstage. She is less pretty but not less dedicated
@089Firefox Why don't you tell the COMPOSER, who's conducting...
@Tritano That's Bernstein...
Damrau's, Dessay's and Chenowith's versions are far more comical when you get to see how they move on stage . Anderson does a better job in phrasings than the rest of them, she's the one who holds the first half of the aria altogether. The others make Bernstein's piece sound quite poorly written because they sing and try too hard to make it whimsical without understanding the music.
"poorly" is not the word I'd use...
It's just the bone structure, some say it's typical for certain types of voices.
@crazysinger111 really? because without that mic you wouldn't hear chenowith. Candide is an opera not a musical theater piece. Therefore it's only about the singing, not the cutesy little acting, Chenowith's voice would never be heard above june anderson. Obviously Anderson is the better singer if the composer of the opera has her sing while he's conducting.
Her voice is creamy
HAHAHA!! at 2:15 the guy behind her is mouthing along!! Why is he there? it doesn't look like he has an instrument...
maybe in the acting but...
vocally, (altho I think shes great) kristin is absolutaley match for ppl of this level...
@flipsyboy but Candide is a comedy and a satirical look at opimism. ms. anderson's approach, although brilliant, could be considered a bit impure?
Might the "fits and starts" simply be the fact this upload is a little out of sync?
I don't even understand the second half of this comment.