Best of all worlds

SO, what joys can we look forward to in this best of all possible worlds? Well, there's war, famine, plague, earthquakes, floods, murder, rape, torture, shipwreck and death - and that's just for starters.

Leonard Bernstein worked on his musical version of Candide for over 22 years and, in the best of all possible worlds, he should have got it right. But he never quite did.

Voltaire's picaresque and philosophical novel, which was written in 1758 and inspired by the great Lisbon earthquake, was far too sophisticated for Broadway and West End audiences back in the 1950s.

The show was an artistic success or, to put it another way, it was one of Broadway's most famous flops. It lasted just 73 performances.

Today, Candide is recognised as a modern classic and most likely to be performed in opera houses.

Bernstein's score, which is full of brilliant pastiches, is magnificent.

The lyrics are by Richard Wulbur with additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, John Latouche, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker and Leonard Bernstein.

Robert Carsen's glitzy production, which is wittily designed by Michael Levine, will, hopefully, repeat the big success that it has already had in Milan and Paris.

The rambling book has had a total rehaul and is relocated in the US during the 1950s. The action takes place inside the frame of a giant television set.

Carsen is never subtle. The scene with Bush, Blair, Putin, Berlusconi and Chirac wearing bathing trunks made out of their respective country's flag, lying on mattresses and floating in a slick of oil, is very cheap.

The optimism of the final prayer Make Our Garden Grow, which is superbly sung by the ENO chorus, is blatantly contradicted by screened images of the devastation caused by global warming.

Cunegonde is wittily conceived as Marilyn Monroe. Soprano Anna Christy and the camp chorus boys have a ball in Glitter and Be Gay, the mock coloratura aria, which has been most amusingly choreographed by Rob Ashford and turned into a big, old-fashioned, show-stopping number.

Toby Spence is excellent as Candide and sings beautifully. Beverley Klein is very funny as the Old Lady who has only one buttock. Don't ask why. Alex Jennings as Voltaire holds the production together with panache.

Musically, visually and comically, Candide is a real treat, not only for opera buffs but also for Broadway musical fans.

More good news - London will shortly be seeing Bernstein's other masterpiece West Side Story.

Plays until July 12. Box office: 0871 911-0200.