© 2025 KUNR
Illustration of rolling hills with occasional trees and a radio tower.
Serving Northern Nevada and the Eastern Sierra
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The threat of catastrophic funding cuts for public media looms, and while we don’t know what the U.S. Senate will do, we do know this: We need your help protecting this vital service.
Learn what you can do to support KUNR and public media today ➡️

Bernstein's 'Candide,' a McCarthy-era comic opera, reflects 'undercurrent of pushing ahead in spite

American composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein conducting, circa 1975. (Erich Auerbach/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
American composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein conducting, circa 1975. (Erich Auerbach/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Got congressional hearings on your mind, with Jan. 6 hearings underway and historians recalling the Watergate hearings nearly 50 years ago?

Here & Now’s classical music critic Fran Hoepfner joins host Robin Young to discuss how Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist hearings in 1954 inspired Leonard Bernstein’s 1956 comic opera “Candide,” about an idealistic young man’s clash with harsh reality.

Watch on YouTube.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.