Our Music NMC Recordings The Importance of Being Earnest | Gerald Barry Gerald Barry's riotous opera brings out the savagery beneath the genteel Edwardian manners of Wilde's play: its score includes gunshots, whistling and speaking from the orchestral players, marching boots, and the smashing of 40 dinner plates, while its characters - among them Lady Bracknell sung by bass Alan Ewing - shout through gales, quote Schiller's Ode to Joy (in German) and make polite conversation through megaphones. Barbara Hannigan soprano Cecily CardewPeter Tantsits tenor Jack WorthingJoshua Bloom baritone Algernon MoncrieffKatalin Károlyi mezzo-soprano Gwendolen FairfaxHilary Summers contralto Miss PrismAlan Ewing bass Lady BracknellBenjamin Bevan bass Lane/MerrimanJoshua Hart speaker Dr Chasuble Birmingham Contemporary Music GroupThomas Adès conductor ‘Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest seems to have achieved the status of a contemporary classic. This riotous recording by BCMG under Thomas Adès is sure to help its fame and popularity spread ... The pyrotechnics of soprano Barbara Hannigan as Cecily are pretty unbeatable’ Opera Now ★★★★★ 'Barry's operatic take on Oscar Wilde's most famous play emerges as vividly on disc as it has subsequently done in the opera house ... the expert performances [are to be] marvelled at' Guardian Buy Now NMC Recordings is an award-winning record label with charitable status. They believe that new music is a dynamic and engaging art-form and seek to inspire and challenge audiences. Manage Cookie Preferences