Arden Must Die (German: Arden muss sterben) is an opera by Alexander Goehr. It premiered on 5 March 1967 at the Hamburg State Opera,[1] conducted by Charles Mackerras and directed by Egon Monk.[2]

Arden Must Die
Opera by Alexander Goehr
Other titleArden muss sterben
LibrettistErich Fried
LanguageGerman, translated to English
Premiere
5 March 1967 (1967-03-05)

The German libretto was written by Erich Fried, with an English version by Geoffrey Skelton.[3] It tells the story of the murder of Thomas Arden by his wife Alice and her lover Mosbie. The libretto draws on two sixteenth-century accounts of the murder, namely the version by chronicler Raphael Holinshed and the anonymous play Arden of Faversham.[3]

The British première was at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, on 17 April 1974, conducted by Meredith Davies.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Arden Must Die oxfordmusiconline.com
  2. ^ Playbill, general rehearsal
  3. ^ a b c Williams, Nicholas. "Arden must Die". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Oxford University Press.