Arden Must Die
Music by Alexander Goehr · libretto by Erich Fried · premiered 1967
Arden Must Die (German: Arden muss sterben) is an opera by Alexander Goehr. It premiered on 5 March 1967 at the Hamburg State Opera, conducted by Charles Mackerras and directed by Egon Monk. It was commissioned by the Hamburg State Opera. The German libretto was written by Erich Fried, with an English version by Geoffrey Skelton. 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. The British première was at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, on 17 April 1974, conducted by Meredith Davies.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Arden Must Die", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Peter Alexander Goehr (German: ['ɡøːɐ̯]; 10 August 1932 – 26 August 2024) was a German-born English composer of contemporary classical music and academic teacher. A long-time professor of music at the University of Cambridge, Goehr influenced many notable contemporary composers, including Thomas Adès, Julian Anderson, George Benjamin and Robin Holloway. Born in Berlin, Goehr grew up in London surrounded by musicians, including his father, the conductor Walter Goehr. Goehr emerged as a central figure in the Manchester School of post-war British composers, including Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle, in his early twenties. He joined Olivier Messiaen's masterclass in Paris in 1955.…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Alexander Goehr", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Alexander Goehr
- Behold the Sun (1985)
- Arianna (1995)