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Opera Philadelphia Gets Wilde

Ken Howard
/
The Santa Fe Opera
Frank Harris (William Burden) urges Oscar Wilde (David Daniels) to flee to France.

The East Coast premiere of an opera about the 19th-century, Anglo-Irish writer Oscar Wilde is from Feb. 6th t0 15th at the Academy of Music. As WRTI’s Jim Cotter reports, Wilde's life story is as compelling as his work.

Oscar Wilde came to America early in his career, even before he’d written anything of any consequence. He was already a gifted raconteur.

Historian John Cooper is an authority on Wilde in America. He says many of Wilde’s most-quoted phrases, like much of his writings, have a timeless quality.

Today, Oscar Wilde is as remembered for his witty repartee as for his writing. He is also remembered for a scandalous love affair that sent him to prison for two years, and his premature death in 1900 at just 46.

World-renowned countertenor David Daniels sings the lead role in Oscar, Opera Philadelphia's telling of Wilde’s traumatic final years. Daniels says that though it's not clear if Wilde did, in fact, have a high-pitched voice, this role was written for him.    

Information about Oscar

http://youtu.be/qUIruFDj0V0