The Cumnor Affair or An Elizabethan Murder-Mystery[1][2] is a one-act opera by the English composer Philip Cashian with an English-language libretto by Iain Pears,[3] lasting 75 minutes in performance.
The opera is based on the love affair between Robert Dudley, Amy Robsart, and Elizabeth I of England.
[8][9] According to Ash Smyth of the Oxford Mail, the singing was lackluster and the absence of melody was a jarring error.
As Smyth notes, "It is basically without melody, which was bad enough when competing with the singers, and worse when not.
"[11] Rupert Christiansen of The Telegraph supported the company but noted the failure of the production, "this isn't one of their more successful ventures"[8] The opera is scored for seven voices and ten instrumentalists:[13]