Wimborne had suggested Christopher Hassall as librettist, in spite of the fact that he had never written an opera libretto.
[2] Walton edited passages by Hassall from the libretto that he deemed inappropriate, or in his own coined term, "Novelloismo".
It was only a moderate success, and various factors were proposed to assess blame for the lacklustre performance, including the conductor not having thoroughly learned the score in advance.
[3] The US première took place on 7 October 1955 at San Francisco Opera, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, with Walton in attendance.
The cast included Richard Lewis as Troilus, Dorothy Kirsten as Cressida, Giorgio Tozzi as Calkas, Carl Palangi as Antenor, Ernest McChesney as Pandarus, and Frances Bible as Evadne.
[8] Other criticisms of the opera have spoken of a lack of sufficient dramatic tension and also Walton resorting to repeated use of past stylistic mannerisms.
[8][9] In his contemporary review of the work, Donald Mitchell noted the overall competence and craft of the opera, and at the same time its overall indebtedness to the style of Richard Wagner, summarizing briefly: "Walton only achieves his success at the expense of his individuality.
"[11] In 1976, Walton prepared an edition of the opera for Janet Baker to sing in a Covent Garden production; parts of the score were transposed down to accommodate the lower tessitura of Baker's voice as compared to that of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, for whom the role was conceived.
[14] For its 2008 production, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis commissioned a new performing edition with both the original soprano register and a reduced orchestration.
[15][16][17] Calkas announces to the people that the oracle at Delphi has conveyed signs that Greece will prevail in the conflict.
Pandarus, uncle to Cressida, has overheard this conversation and offers his services to further Troilus's romantic cause.
Troilus returns to the temple, aware of Calkas's betrayal, and receives an initial sign of Cressida's approval.
Pandarus then enters to tell the news that Greek soldiers are on his grounds, and that Troilus must hide.
Troilus and Pandarus then appear with the news that they have arranged for a ransom for Cressida, during a truce in the hostilities.