- Based on the Shakespeare play, Troilus and Cressida was Walton’s vision for a “grand” opera reminiscent of 19th-century Italian opera traditions. Unfortunately, writing this piece was a long and arduous process with little reward at the end.
- The opera had a successful premiere at Covent Garden in 1954. However, a subsequent failure at La Scala would generate years of revisions and alterations to the piece from Walton.
- Fun fact – Troilus and Cressida was not Walton’s only musical adaptation Shakespeare’s plays. Walton also composed the film scores for several Shakespearean adaptations in film, including As You Like It, Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III, as well as incidental music for a production of Macbeth.1
Sources
- Byron Adams, “Walton, Sir William,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed August 11, 2022, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040016.
Cut IDs
11738