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THE LYRIC FEATURE

Oscar Wilde Image Name: Oscar Wilde Description: Oscar Wilde

The Art Most Nigh To Tears And Memory

 Although Oscar Wilde was not considered an aficionado of music in his day, his opinion that ‘Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory’ reveals an inner musical consciousness that was reflected in the rich symbolic imagery that characterised some of his most powerful writings. This imagery was to exert a deep influence on some of the most important composers of the early 20th Century.

Had Wilde only lived a few years beyond his tragically early death in 1900 he would have witnessed the unprecedented musical revolution his Tragedy of Salome catalysed when Richard Strauss adapted it for his opera Salome in 1905. Subsequently he would have seen how Wilde’s A Florentine Tragedy and The Birthday of the Infanta were essential influences on the Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky who adapted them for his challengingly inventive operas Eine florentinische Tragödie in 1917 and Der Zwerg in 1922. 

One of the most acclaimed musical authorities on this Wilde musical trilogy is the distinguished conductor and Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera James Conlon.

In this exploration of Oscar Wilde’s influence on musical creativity he discusses these three operas in conversation with Jon Tolansky.

Presenter/Producer: Jon Tolansky

RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday 5th April, 6pm-7pm