The best of all possible worlds

It would have been a shame to miss the PBS telecast of Candide. It's purely by chance that we happened onto it. I remember listening to the original-cast album and was even correct as to the year. I cannot imagine a better production of this work, which I enjoy more every time I hear or see it. The Austin opera really did a respectable job, but who could outdo this? Choreography, voices, and the production generally could not be bettered. Or at least I'd be very surprised. This must have been one of Sondheim's earliest efforts, and I suppose that Richard Wilbur, also credited as a lyricist, must be the poet, though there hasn't been time to look it up.