“The Importance of Being Earnest,” an opera by Gerald Barry, receives critical acclaim.
The world premiere of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” a new opera by Gerald Barry, was performed last month as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Aspects of Adès” festival. Highly regarded English composer Thomas Adès, conducted. Adès is an ardant admirer and champion of Barry’s work and conducted the U.S. premiere of Barry’s second opera The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit five years ago.
The review in the LA Times is full of praise for this new work by Barry:
“The opera is hysterically funny. The score is highly sophisticated and indescribably zany. Although unstaged, the concert performance proved marvelous theater."
"The world now has something rare: a new genuinely comic opera and maybe the most inventive Oscar Wilde opera since Richard Strauss’ “Salome” more than a century ago."
For the full review visit:
“The Importance of Being Earnest,” is a co commission with the Barbican, London and will be performed there in April 2012. By then the word will have spread about this "Sensational opera" (LA Times) and it will be a major event. Gerald Barry has written four other operas: The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit for Channel 4 Television, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant for RTE/ENO/Basel Opera, La Plus Forte (The Stronger) for Radio France and The Intelligence Park for the Institute of Contemporary Arts/Almeida Festival . The Intelligence Park, widely regarded as one of the most innovative and compelling operas of recent times, will be presented in a concert performance at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday 18 May 2011, in collaboration with Crash Ensemble.
Full details: http://www.crashensemble.com/concert_detail.php?ID=128
Full press release visit: Gerald Barry's The Intelligence Park