Chicago Opera Theater Stages 1962 Opera Adaptation of Wilde Classic
The local premiere of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 1962 work features quotes from Bach, Wagner, and Rimsky-Korsakov in a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1894 play.
By Liam O'Connor ·
Chicago Opera Theater will present the local premiere of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's opera The Importance of Being Earnest this month. The production adapts the 1962 score, which reworks Oscar Wilde's 1894 play of the same name into a musical work filled with witty references.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who died in 1968, composed extensively for piano, violin, voice, and guitar. He fled Italy in 1939 to escape the Holocaust and subsequently wrote scores for approximately 200 Hollywood films. While he is well known among film music enthusiasts and classical guitarists, he receives less attention in the classical world than fellow emigré Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who is currently seeing a resurgence in popularity.
The opera relies heavily on relentless musical quotations from famous classical works. Snippets from Johann Sebastian Bach's Wachet Auf, Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee appear frequently. These quotes function as distinct motifs representing specific characters and moods within the drama.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco based the libretto on Wilde's original English-language script. The text includes the line, To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.
Performances are scheduled for Wednesday, December 2, at 7:30 PM, Saturday, December 5, at 3 PM, and Sunday, December 6, at 3 PM. The show will take place at the Studebaker Theatre in the Fine Arts Building at 401 S. Michigan. Tickets range from $66 to $166, with student seats available for $20. The production is open to all ages.
