Editing The Importance of Being Earnest (section)

===Operas and musicals===
In 1963 [[Erik Chisholm]] composed an opera from the play, basing the [[libretto]] on Wilde's text.<ref>Mears, Caroline, and James May. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000005630 "Chisholm, Erik"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001 {{subscription required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240901131057/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000005630 |date=1 September 2024 }}</ref> [[Gerald Barry (composer)|Gerald Barry]] created the 2011 opera ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest (opera)|The Importance of Being Earnest]]'', commissioned by the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]] and the [[Barbican Centre]] in London. It premiered in Los Angeles in 2011. The role of Lady Bracknell is sung by a [[bass (voice)|bass]].<ref name=nmc/> The stage premiere was given by the [[Opéra national de Lorraine]] in [[Nancy, France|Nancy]] in 2013.<ref>Barry, unnumbered introductory page</ref> A 2012 concert performance was recorded live at the Barbican by the BBC and released commercially in 2014.<ref name=nmc>[[Paul Griffiths (writer)|Griffiths, Paul]] (2014). Notes to NMC CD set NMC D197 {{oclc|896191170}}</ref> In 2017 [[Odyssey Opera]] of Boston presented [[Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco]]'s opera ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' as part of a "Wilde Opera Nights" series, a season-long exploration of operatic works inspired by Wilde's writings and world.<ref>Wells, Kevin. [https://bachtrack.com/review-castelnuovo-tedesco-importance-earnest-odyssey-opera-boston-march-2017 "Wilde about Castelnuovo-Tedesco: ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' at Boston's Odyssey Opera"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616220725/https://bachtrack.com/review-castelnuovo-tedesco-importance-earnest-odyssey-opera-boston-march-2017 |date=16 June 2020 }}, ''Bachtrack'', 21 March 2017</ref>

In 1964 [[Gerd Natschinski]] composed a musical, {{lang|de|Mein Freund Bunbury}}, based on the play.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150813030139/http://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/natschinski108.html "Komponist Gerd Natschinski gestorben"], MDR, 7 August 2015</ref> According to a study by [[Robert Tanitch]], by 2002, there had been at least eight adaptations of the play as a musical, though "never with conspicuous success".<ref name=Bostridge/> The earliest such version was a 1927 American show entitled ''Oh Earnest''. The journalist Mark Bostridge comments, "The libretto of a 1957 musical adaptation, ''[[Half in Earnest]]'', deposited in the [[British Library]], is scarcely more encouraging. The curtain rises on Algernon, strumming away at the piano, singing, 'I can play ''[[Chopsticks (waltz)|Chopsticks]]'', Lane'. Other songs include 'A Bunburying I Must Go'".<ref name=Bostridge/> Since Bostridge wrote his article, at least one further musical version of the play has been staged: a show with a book by Douglas Livingstone and score by Adam McGuinness and Zia Moranne was staged in December 2011 at the [[Riverside Studios]], Hammersmith; the cast included [[Susie Blake]], [[Gyles Brandreth]] and [[Edward Petherbridge]].<ref>Maxwell, Dominic. "Lady Bracknell the musical", ''The Times'', 17 December 2011, p. 35</ref>