The English composer Wiliam Walton (1902-1983) wrote only one full length opera, Troilus and Cressida. Christopher Hassall supplied the libretto and the premiere was at Covent Garden in December of 1954. This week,we have scenes from the only full length recording of the opera.
Descriptions of the premier production show a troubled history. Walton wrote Cressida with Elizabeth Schwarzkopf in mind, but she begged off although she did record some of the music. The director, Lawrence Olivier, quit before he started. The conductor, Malcolm Sargent, refused to wear glasses with some comic results, because he definitely needed them. The libretto was weak, and the critics lukewarm. Among the criticisms was that the music was too old fashioned, which was what Walton intended if you take his word that he wanted the music to be Pucciniesque.
Set in Troy and the Greek encampment during the Trojan war, the opera is based on the Chaucer version of Troilus and Cressida, Troilus and Cressida is a love story that becomes a love triangle with the Greek commander Diomede. It doesn't end well, with Cressida’s father killing Troilus at what was intended to be her wedding to Diomede because she cannot, after all, renounce Troilus. Grieving and a prisoner of the Greeks, Cressida commits suicide.
Judith Howarth sings Cressida and Arthur Davies is Troilus. The Chorus of Opera North and the English Northern Philharmonia are conducted by Richard Hickox.
