The Alcestiad is an opera in three acts by Louise Talma to a libretto that Thornton Wilder wrote based on his 1955 play of the same name.
Wilder, who was awarded the Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels (peace prize of the German book trade) in 1957, was well received in Germany.
The opera premiered on 1 March 1962 at the Oper Frankfurt, in a German version Die Alkestiade by Herberth Herlischka.
[1][5] The first performance was not critically acclaimed,[2] but nevertheless covered by the international press,[1] including The New York Times and the Salzburger Nachrichten.
[3] The music was described as influenced by Schoenberg, Honegger and Stravinsky, with "harsh brass dissonances and shattering percussion effects".