The Importance of Being Earnest (opera)

The Importance of Being Earnest is a three-act opera by Gerald Barry based on the play of the same name by Oscar Wilde. The opera was given concert performances in Los Angeles in 2011 and in London and Birmingham in 2012, and received its first fully staged performances at the Opéra national de Lorraine, Nancy. Its first British staged performance took place at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Covent Garden, in 2013.

The opera was commissioned jointly by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Barbican Centre, and was completed by the composer in eight months. Barry himself adapted the libretto from the original play, cutting the text substantially. However, Wilde's plot is retained completely, as well as many of his most famous lines. The composer has commented: "The text was far too long, and I had to cut around two-thirds of it, but the structure is so strong that I think people will hardly notice. I got rid of all the social niceties, which gives a different tone—the butler is not so polite as he was!" In describing his technique, the composer has further said in respect of act 3:

Everyone's on stage, terrible scandals have been revealed about Miss Prism and the baby, and Canon Chasuble comes in and says "Everything is ready for the christening." Everyone just responds with weird vocal slides, there's no text at all. He responds by saying, "Your mood seems peculiarly secular" and they do it all again, as if they're animals in a menagerie. I was very pleased with that, I thought "I've matched Wilde in madness"

Concert performances of the opera were given in Los Angeles in April 2011 conducted by Thomas Adès, and in London (26 April 2012) and Birmingham (28 April 2012), the English performances being given by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, also conducted by Adès. The opera was given its first staged performances on 17 March 2013 at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy, directed by Sam Brown and conducted by Tito Muñoz, and in June 2013 at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio Theatre, conducted by Tim Murray. In October and November 2013 a touring production of the opera was given in Derry, Belfast, Cork and Dublin by Northern Ireland Opera, conducted by Pierre-André Valade.

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