Bernstein’s effervescent setting of Voltaire was not a success when it had its premiere in 1956. It was Mr. Prince who helped re-establish the reputation of “Candide” by reworking it and mounting a string of successful productions in the 1970s, in Brooklyn and on Broadway, and then, in 1982, at City Opera. Now the new version of the company is looking to him to help re-establish its own reputation as it works to recover from bankruptcy, and to dispel the lingering bad taste left by the extraordinary financial mismanagement that led up to it.

The “Candide” gamble seems to be paying off, at the box office at least: The company extended the run, which opens Jan. 6 at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, to 10 performances from the originally planned six after it got on track to sell 80 percent of its tickets.

Michael Capasso, the impresario who put together the plan to reorganize City Opera and bring it out of bankruptcy — beating out several more-established suitors despite the doubts of some in the opera world — said that he marveled that things had come so far. “When you think of where we were a year ago, I pinch myself when I get up in the morning,” said Mr. Capasso, now the company’s general director. “I’m going to rehearsals for this ‘Candide,’ and Hal Prince is in the room, and we’re operating. A year ago, we were this close to the whole thing blowing up.”