“The Importance of Being Earnest (opera)”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

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.^[1] 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:

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.^[3] 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,^[4] and in June 2013 at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio Theatre, conducted by Tim Murray.^[5] 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.^[6] In April-May 2019, a new production staged by Julien Chavaz and conducted by Jérôme Kuhn at the NOF - Nouvel Opéra Fribourg and the Théâtre de l'Athénée (Paris) offers the opera its Swiss and Paris premiere.

Roles

Synopsis

The following synopsis is in accordance with the Royal Opera House production, 2016.^[7] Time: The present.

Act I

Location: Algernon Moncrieff's flat in London. Algernon is playing his own variations on Auld Lang Syne on the piano while his butler prepares afternoon tea. John "Jack" Worthing, whom Algernon knows as Ernest, arrives. 'Ernest' has come from the country to propose to Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon, however, refuses his consent until 'Ernest' explains why his cigarette case bears the inscription "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack." 'Ernest' is forced to admit to living a double life. In the country, he assumes a serious attitude for the benefit of his young ward Cecily, goes by the name of John or Jack, and pretends that he has a wastrel younger brother named Ernest in London. In the city, meanwhile, he assumes the identity of the libertine Ernest. Algernon confesses to a similar deception: he pretends to have an invalid friend named Bunbury in the country, whom he can "visit" whenever he wishes to avoid an unwelcome social obligation.

Gwendolen and her formidable mother Lady Bracknell (sung by a male bass) call on Algernon. Asserting the superiority of German music over French, Lady Bracknell gives a rendition of Friedrich Schiller's Ode to Joy. Jack proposes to Gwendolen. She accepts, but seems to love him mostly because of his professed name of Ernest. Jack resolves to himself that he will be rechristened "Ernest". Lady Bracknell interviews Jack to assess his worthiness as a suitor for Gwendolen. Horrified to learn that Jack was adopted after being discovered as a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station, she forbids him further contact with her daughter. Gwendolen manages to secretly promise Jack her undying love. As Jack gives her his address in the country, Algernon surreptitiously notes it.

Act II

Location: The garden of John Worthing's estate. Cecily is studying with her governess, Miss Prism, who extols the German language, also giving a rendition of the Ode to Joy. Algernon arrives, pretending to be Ernest Worthing, and soon charms Cecily. Long fascinated by her Uncle Jack's mysterious black sheep brother, she is predisposed to fall for Algernon in his role of Ernest (a name she, like Gwendolen, is apparently particularly fond of). Therefore, Algernon, too, plans for the rector, Dr. Chasuble, to rechristen him "Ernest". Meanwhile, Jack has decided to abandon his double life. He arrives and announces his brother's death in Paris, a story immediately undermined by Algernon's presence in the guise of Ernest. Gwendolen now enters. During the temporary absence of the two men, she meets Cecily, and each woman indignantly declares that she is the one engaged to "Ernest". The atmosphere between the two (in a dialogue effected via megaphones) grows chillier, accompanied in the orchestra by the rhythmic demolition of a stack of dinner plates.^[2]^[8] When Jack and Algernon reappear, their deceptions are exposed; they immediately quarrel about each other's disastrous 'Bunburying'.

Act III

Location: The morning-room of Worthing's estate. The girls forgive the men on learning that they are both prepared to undergo re-christening on their behalf. Arriving in pursuit of her daughter, Lady Bracknell is astonished to learn that Algernon and Cecily are engaged. The revelation of Cecily's fortune (£130,000) soon dispels Lady Bracknell's initial doubts over the young lady's suitability, but then Jack announces that, as Cecily's guardian, he forbids her engagement. Jack will consent to Cecily's marriage only if Lady Bracknell agrees to his own union with Gwendolen—something she declines to do. The impasse is broken when Lady Bracknell hears mention of Miss Prism, and recognises her as the person who, twenty-eight years earlier, as a family nursemaid, had taken a baby boy for a walk in a perambulator and never returned. Challenged, Miss Prism explains that she had absent-mindedly put the manuscript of a novel she was writing in the perambulator, and the baby in a handbag, which she had left at Victoria Station. Jack produces the very same handbag, proving that he is the lost baby, whom Lady Bracknell identifies as the elder son of her late sister, and thus Algernon's elder brother after all. Having acquired such respectable relations, he is now acceptable as a suitor for Gwendolen. Lady Bracknell informs Jack that, as the first-born, he would have been named after his father, General Moncrieff. The cast examines the Army Lists (via mobile phones) and discovers that his father's name—and hence his own real name—isin fact Ernest. Lady Bracknell complains to her newfound relative: "My nephew, you seem to be displaying signs of triviality." "On the contrary, Aunt Augusta", he replies, "I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital importance of being Earnest."

Reception

The actor Stephen Fry commented that making an opera setting of Wilde's play was like "taking a machete to a soufflé".^[8] However, critical reception of the opera has been generally very positive. The Los Angeles Times wrote of the staged premiere "The world now has something rare: a new genuinely comic opera and maybe the most inventive Oscar Wilde opera since Richard Strauss's Salome more than a century ago".^[3] Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade noted the climax to the confrontation of Cicely and Gwendolyn when the latter

The opera won the Royal Philharmonic Society award for large-scale composition in 2012.^[10]

Recording

A recording of the 2012 London concert performance of the opera was issued by NMC Records in 2014, and was nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award.^[11]

References

1. ^Royal Opera House (2016), pp. (6)–(9).
2. ^¹Hewett (2012)
3. ^¹"Music review: L.A. Phil premieres Gerald Barry's sensational opera 'The Importance of Being Earnest' ", (8 April 2011), Los Angeles Times website, accessed 4 April 2016.
4. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/arts/20iht-loomis20.html|title=Singing the Praises of Oscar Wilde's 'Importance of Being Earnest'|last=Loomis|first=George|date=2013-03-19|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2017-02-01}}
5. ^¹{{Cite web|url=https://bachtrack.com/review-roh-importance-of-being-earnest-barry-gray|title=Gerald Barry's The Importance of Being Earnest staged at the ROH Linbury Studio {{!}} by Bachtrack for classical music, opera, ballet and dance event reviews|website=bachtrack.com|language=en|access-date=2017-02-01}}
6. ^"The Importance of Being Earnest", Northern Ireland Opera website, accessed 5 April, 2106.
7. ^Royal Opera House (2016), pp. (4)–(5). The following paragraphs include copied content from The Importance of Being Earnest; see that page for details.
8. ^¹Cruttwell-Reade (2013)
9. ^Rye (2016).
10. ^"RPS music Awards 2012", RPS website, accessed 4 April 2016.
11. ^"Gerald Barry: The Importance of Being Earnest", NMC Records website, accessed 5 April 2016. CD no. NMC197.

Background