This rousing overture for a Leonard Bernstein score was not among his notable successes when it opened on Broadway in 1956. Candide was a complicated collaboration that has been revised many times over its nearly 50-year history. One of the few parts of the show that has survived more or less intact is the Overture. It encapsulates the excitement and verve of Voltaire's fanciful story, bringing together such favorite tunes from the show as "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow."

-- Dennis Bade