Arden Must Die

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 title	Arden muss sterben
Librettist	Erich Fried
Language	German, translated to English
Based on	Murder of Thomas Arden
Premiere	5 March 1967 Hamburg State Opera

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

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