BERNSTEIN: “CANDIDE.” Erie Mills, Joyce Castle, David...

BERNSTEIN: “CANDIDE.” Erie Mills, Joyce Castle, David Eisler, John Lankstron, Scott Reeve; New York City Opera Chorus and Orchestra conducted by John Mauceri. New World NW 340/41 (two digital records). This handsome recording commemorates the 1982 “opera house” version of Bernstein’s 1956 operetta. The latest edition includes a more expansive and more complex orchestration than the 1973 version, which both defeated Stephen Sondheim’s additions to Richard Wilbur’s lyrics and dispensed with the Lillian Hellman libretto considered one of the principal reasons for the failure of the unclassifiable Broadway original. Whatever the genesis, “Candide” re-emerges one of the more inventive excursions in the popular musical theater of our time, a high point in Bernstein’s career and a deft and often daft re-telling of Voltaire’s fable. Veteran listeners will miss the pungent characterization of Columbia’s original-cast recording, but the inclusion of 45 additional minutes of music makes New World’s offering an irresistible proposition. The microphone treats Eric Mills’ Cunegonde’s unflatteringly: she launches “Glitter and Be Gay” with an incipient wobble. But Eisler’s tender Candide and Lankston’s ironic Pangloss recall happy times in the opera house. Mauceri leads a cheery performance which captures all the brio of a live performance. Full text included.