OSCAR WILDE GAY VOICE FULL
OSCAR WILDE GAY VOICE CODE

'Oscar' boldly goes where no men have gone before, operatically speaking.

But even that held back on the passion, reflecting the fact that Griffith cloaked his sexuality publicly. Louis and told the story of boxer Emile Griffith, who happened to be gay. Last month, jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard's successful dip into opera, 'Champion,' premiered in St. Still, opera has not taken on the subject meaningfully until this year. He swoons nearly to death listening to Maria Callas wail through the famous aria, 'La mamma morta.' For a good reference point, rewatch the scene in 'Philadelphia' that won Tom Hanks the Oscar. Opera is famous for its appeal to the rich and the gay, and there's some truth to the notion. The irony of this is not lost on anyone in the profession or anyone who attends opera regularly and sees the two-tuxedo couples who regularly fill the seats. It's the first openly gay opera in the art form's 500-year history. It's the first major opera where one man professes his love for another man. 'This is not 'The Importance of Being Earnest,'' said Santa Fe's artistic leader Charles MacKay, as a polite and direct warning to folks who may expect a comedy of manners to appear on stage starting July 27.

OSCAR WILDE GAY VOICE FULL

The work is very much a tragedy about a fallen hero, and opera is full of such characters, from 'Don Giovanni' to 'Carmen.'

OSCAR WILDE GAY VOICE CODE

Composer Theodore Morrison and librettist John Cox tell the story of Wilde's public trial and imprisonment for 'gross indecency,' late 19th century code for homosexual acts. 'Oscar' is another matter and fitting of its place in an opera house. Theater companies produce his writings reliably today. It could also be that opera audiences - conservative art consumers by nature - weren't ready for 'Oscar' until 2013.Ī century after his death, Wilde is best-remembered as a master of pith, the author of plays, witty and catty, that took on his era's social mores. That's what finally captured the attention.' 'I finally made the decision that I'd get my pocketbook out and get together a recording studio and an engineer and producer and singers. 'I always knew the possibility to do this opera was out there if I could get the right person to hear it,' said Daniels. Then he used all of his sway as one of the genre's current stars to find a company willing to commission an actual production.Īnd no small matter: It took him eight years. He backed the new work from its inception, consulting on the story, agreeing to take the lead, even funding a demo recording himself. Based on the life of literary titan Oscar Wilde, it is the most highly anticipated premiere of 2013 and, in large part, Daniels made it happen. That makes countertenor David Daniels' role in bringing 'Oscar' to the Santa Fe Opera a singular achievement. Singers wait around their agents to text, then show up where they're booked, ready to work.

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