NMC Recordings release a recording of Gerald Barry's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'

The recording of Gerald Barry's successful opera is released by the UK-based new music label as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations this month.

The opera, which is based on the famous play by Oscar Wilde, is performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and soloists with conductor Thomas Adès. The recording is available to purchase direct from NMC Recordings' web site as a CD or download.

To mark the release, Gerald Barry will participate in a live Twitter Q&A on 26 September. The questions may be submitted in advance or on the day using the Twitter hashtag #askgeraldbarry. The writers of the composer's favourite questions will win a signed CD of the release.

Commissioned by the LA Philharmonic and the Barbican, and premiered in 2011 in Los Angeles by the LA Philharmonic, The Importance of Being Earnestwas described as “hysterically funny” by the LA Times and praised for its “sheer uninhibited exuberance” by the Guardian. It was performed in Birmingham and London in 2012 and London and received its Irish premiere to much acclaim last year.