Amanda Holden

Amanda Juliet Holden (; 19 January 1948 – 7 September 2021) was a British pianist, librettist, translator and editor of musical encyclopedias. She is known for translating opera librettos to contemporary English for the English National Opera, and for writing new librettos, especially in collaboration with Brett Dean. She was also the principal editor of several musical encyclopedias, such as the New Penguin Opera Guide.

Life and career Amanda Juliet Warren was born in London, She first worked as a freelance pianist and accompanist, teacher at the Guildhall School, and therapist from 1973 to 1986. Holden prepared the "deft" narration for a concert performance of Weber's Der Freischütz presented by the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in April 2012. She translated Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice for the St. Louis Opera in 2018, Pascal Dusapin's Passion for its UK premiere at the Music Theatre Wales in 2018, and Hans Abrahamsen's The Snow Queen for Munich in 2019. She wrote the libretto for Mark-Anthony Turnage's The Silver Tassie, which premiered at the ENO in 2000, and for which Holden and Turnage jointly received the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera in 2001.

Her works included: Amanda Holden (ed.): The Penguin Concise Guide to Opera. Penguin, reprinted 2005. Amanda Holden (ed.): The New Penguin Opera Guide. Penguin 2001. (Reprinted in paperback 2003) Amanda Holden (ed.): The Penguin Opera Guide. Penguin 1995. (Reprinted in paperback 1997) Amanda Holden, Nicholas Kenyon and Stephen Walsh (eds.): The Viking Opera Guide. (with CD-ROM) 1993

Personal life Holden married writer and broadcaster Anthony Holden in 1971. They had three sons and divorced in 1988.