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Offer,Walton: Troilus and Cressida

Clive Bayley (Calkas), James Thornton (Antenor), Arthur Davies (Troilus), Nigel Robson (Pandarus), Judith Howarth (Cressida), Yvonne Howard (Evadne), David Owen-Lewis (Horaste), Alan Opie (Diomede)

Opera North Chorus, English Northern Philharmonia, Richard Hickox

Troilus and Cressida is here powerfully presented as an opera for the central repertory, traditional in its red-blooded treatment of a big classical subject. Few operas since Puccini's have such... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: CHAN93701
Label: Chandos
Length: 2 hours 12 minutes

Gramophone Awards

1995

Winner - Opera
Penguin Guide

Rosette

Chandos - Downloads at MP3 Prices

Special offer ends: 22/05/2024

Walton: Troilus and Cressida, Act I

Work length41:07

$11.00

$14.30

Richard Hickox, English Northern Philharmonia, Clive Bayley, Arthur Davies, Judith Howarth, Nigel Robson, James Thornton, Peter Bodenham, Chorus of Opera North, Keith Mills, Yvonne Howard

Virgin of Troas (Calkas, Priests & Priestesses, Worshippers)

Track length6:36

$1.00

$1.30

Back to your hovels… (Troilus, Antenor, Chorus)

Track length2:27

$1.00

$1.30

Is Cressida a slave… (Troilus)

Track length5:01

$1.00

$1.30

Morning and evening I have felt your glance… (Cressida, Troilus)

Track length6:17

$1.00

$1.30

Forgive me… (Pandarus, Troilus)

Track length3:46

$1.00

$1.30

I haunt her beauty like a naked soul… (Troilus, Pandarus, Calkas, Cressida, Evadne)

Track length2:00

$1.00

$1.30

My father! Evadne, follow him! (Cressida, Priest, Pandarus)

Track length3:11

$1.00

$1.30

Slowly it all comes back (Cressida, Evadne, Pandarus)

Track length3:46

$1.00

$1.30

Why niece!... in tears? (Pandarus, Cressida, Evadne)

Track length1:59

$1.00

$1.30

Sweet sir, there's something… (Cressida, Pandarus, First Soldier, Troilus, Chorus)

Track length2:27

$1.00

$1.30

Dear child, you need a little comfort (Pandarus, Cressida, Troilus)

Track length3:37

$1.00

$1.30

Walton: Troilus and Cressida, Act II Scene 1

Work length25:50

$7.00

$9.10

Richard Hickox, English Northern Philharmonia, Judith Howarth, Nigel Robson, David Owen-Lewis, Arthur Davies

Does talking put you off? (Pandarus, Cressida, Horaste, Evadne)

Track length6:14

$1.00

$1.30

How can I sleep? (Cressida)

Track length2:13

$1.00

$1.30

At the haunted end of the day (Cressida)

Track length2:58

$1.00

$1.30

Hush! Don't be so alarmed! (Pandarus, Cressida, Troilus)

Track length4:06

$1.00

$1.30

If one last doubt, one lurking fear remains… (Troilus)

Track length4:27

$1.00

$1.30

New life, new love! (Cressida, Troilus)

Track length4:22

$1.00

$1.30

Now hold me close… (Cressida, Troilus)

Track length1:30

$1.00

$1.30

Walton: Troilus and Cressida, Act II Scene 2

Work length19:31

$5.00

$6.50

Richard Hickox, English Northern Philharmonia, Judith Howarth, Arthur Davies, Nigel Robson, Alan Opie, Yvonne Howard

The Storm

Track length3:01

$1.00

$1.30

From isle to isle… (Cressida, Troilus)

Track length3:07

$1.00

$1.30

Who would go drumming… (Pandarus, Cressida)

Track length2:15

$1.00

$1.30

My name is Diomede… (Diomede, Pandarus)

Track length5:16

$1.00

$1.30

This thing shall be revok'd… (Troilus, Cressida, Pandarus, Evadne)

Track length5:52

$1.00

$1.30

Walton: Troilus and Cressida, Act III

Work length46:24

$13.00

$16.90

Richard Hickox, English Northern Philharmonia, Clive Bayley, Arthur Davies, Judith Howarth, Alan Opie, Nigel Robson, Bruce Budd, Stephen Dowson, Brian Cookson, Chorus of Opera North, Yvonne Howard

All's well! (Watchmen, Cressida, Evadne)

Track length7:25

$2.00

$2.60

Troilus! No answering sign… (Cressida, Watchmen)

Track length5:43

$1.00

$1.30

Cressid, daughter… (Calkas)

Track length2:25

$1.00

$1.30

You gods, o deathless gods… (Cressida)

Track length2:04

$1.00

$1.30

Proud, wondrous Cressida (Diomede, Cressida)

Track length3:30

$1.00

$1.30

Take it, take it (Cressida, Diomede, Evadne, Watchmen)

Track length2:53

$1.00

$1.30

Evadne! (Troilus, Pandarus, Evadne, Cressida)

Track length2:32

$1.00

$1.30

Troilus! (Cressida, Pandarus, Troilus)

Track length3:29

$1.00

$1.30

What is this sudden alarm? (Troilus, Cressida, Pandarus, Diomede, Chorus)

Track length4:44

$1.00

$1.30

Sextet (Diomede, Troilus, Cressida, Pandarus, Calkas and Evadne)

Track length3:15

$1.00

$1.30

She has brought shame upon her father! (Calkas, Diomede, Troilus, Cressida, Chorus)

Track length3:33

$1.00

$1.30

Diomede!... Father!... (Cressida)

Track length4:51

$1.00

$1.30

Reviews
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Reviews

2010

Troilus and Cressida is here powerfully presented as an opera for the central repertory, traditional in its red-blooded treatment of a big classical subject. Few operas since Puccini's have such a rich store of instantly memorable tunes as this. Walton wrote the piece in the wake of the first great operatic success of his rival, Benjamin Britten. What more natural than for Walton, by this time no longer an enfantterrible of British music but an Establishment figure, to turn his back on operas devoted like Britten's to offbeat subjects and to go back to an older tradition using a classical love story, based on Chaucer (not Shakespeare). Though he was praised for this by critics in 1954, he was quickly attacked for being old-fashioned. Even in the tautened version of the score offered for the 1976 Covent Garden revival – with the role of the heroine adapted for the mezzo voice of Dame Janet Baker – the piece was described by one critic as a dodo. Yet as Richard Hickox suggests, fashion after 40 years matters little, and the success of the Opera North production in January 1995 indicated that at last the time had come for a big, warmly Romantic, sharply dramatic work to be appreciated on its own terms.
This recording was made under studio conditions during the run of the opera in Leeds. The discs confirm what the live performances suggested, that Walton's tautening of the score, coupled with a restoration of the original soprano register for Cressida, proved entirely successful.
Hickox conducts a performance that's magnetic from beginning to end. The scene is atmospherically set in Act 1 by the chorus, initially off-stage, but then with the incisive Opera North chorus snapping out thrilling cries of 'We are accurs'd!'.
The first soloist one hears is the High Priest, Calkas, Cressida's father, about to defect to the Greeks, and the role is superbly taken by the firm, dark-toned Clive Bayley. Troilus's entry and his declaration of love for Cressida bring Waltonian sensuousness and the first statements of the soaring Cressida theme. Arthur Davies isn't afraid of using his head voice for pianissimos, so contrasting the more dramatically with the big outbursts and his ringing top notes. This is a young-sounding hero, Italianate of tone. Similarly, Judith Howarth's Cressida is quite girlish, and she brings out the vulnerability of the character along with sweetness and warmth. After Calkas has defected to the Greeks, her cry of 'He has deserted us and Troy!' conveys genuine fear, with her will undermined.
All told, although some fine music has been cut, the tautened version is far more effective both musically and dramatically, with no longueurs.
The role of Diomede, Cressida's Greek suitor, can seem one-dimensional, but Alan Opie in one of his finest performances on record sharpens the focus, making him a genuine threat, with the element of nobility fully allowed. As Antenor, James Thornton sings strongly but is less steady than the others, while Yvonne Howard is superb in the mezzo role of Evadne, Cressida's treacherous servant and confidante. Not just the chorus but the orchestra of Opera North respond with fervour.
Naturally and idiomatically they observe the Waltonian rubato and the lifting of jazzily syncopated rhythms which Hickox as a dedicated Waltonian instils, echoing the composer's own example. As for the recorded sound, the bloom of the acoustic enhances the score, helped by the wide dynamic range.

Offer,Walton: Troilus and Cressida

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