Opera Philadelphia’s ‘Oscar’: men with high voices

An operatic treat is coming to Philadelphia — the opera Oscar with countertenor David Daniels. A countertenor — often a baritone who sings in the mezzo-soprano range using a head voice — is a rarity in opera, and “David Daniels is the foremost countertenor in the world,” says David Devan, general director and president of Opera Philadelphia. He’s excited about the company’s upcoming production based on Oscar Wilde’s trial and imprisonment on charges of “gross indecency,” an opera created specifically for Daniels.

Beyond the happy, witty Oscar

Devan was looking for a project that would allow him to bring Daniels to Philadelphia when he learned that composer Theodore Morrison was already in talks with Daniels about writing a role for him. The decision to create an opera about Oscar Wilde seemed perfect. Wilde, notes Devan, was a big man with a high-pitched voice, so casting Daniels was a great match. Also, a countertenor is someone who is unique in the opera world, while Wilde was very much alone in his world because of his love for Lord Alfred Douglas, called Bosie. “There were no LGBT forums in those days,” says Devan.

Wilde is usually portrayed as witty, charming, and effeminate. “We wanted to explore the person beyond the happy, witty Oscar,” says Devan, and to look at man’s cruelty towards man. Opera, he adds, was the right vehicle for this project. “It is bigger than life and wrought with emotion.”

It’s also timely. When the opera was first conceived, the acceptance of the rights of same-sex couples to marry was just beginning to take hold. Now it’s part of the national dialogue. A current film, The Imitation Game, explores the consequences of being gay for another prominent Brit, Alan Turing, who chose chemical castration over imprisonment, with disastrous results. And the Amazon Original TV show Transparent, which just won a Golden Globe, explores the life of a trans woman.

From Santa Fe to Philly

The development of this opera with colleagues at the Sante Fe Opera was part of Opera Philadelphia’s mission to reach out and collaborate with the leading opera companies in the country. Oscar premiered in Santa Fe in 2013, but it has taken till now for the opera to get to Philadelphia because it was dependent on the availability of Daniels.

Oscar, with music by Theodore Morrison and a libretto by John Cox and Theodore Morrison, is based on quotations from the writings of Oscar Wilde and his contemporaries. Co-commissioned and coproduced with The Santa Fe Opera, it’s running from February 6-15 at the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Streets, Philadelphia. For tickets and more information, call 215-893-1018 or visit www.operaphila.org.