German composer Berthold Goldschmidt composed an opera in three acts based on the Shelley play in 1949 entitled "Beatrice Cenci" with a libretto by Martin Esslin "after Shelley's verse drama "The Cenci"". The opera won first prize in the Festival of Britain opera competition in 1951. The opera was first performed in 1988. A critically lauded production starring Roberta Alexander as the title heroine was staged at the Opernfest in Berlin in 1994.The first staged production of "Beatrice Cenci" in the UK was by the Trinity College of Music on July 9–11, 1998.