The Bear

About

Walton began composing the opera in 1965, as a result of a commission from the Koussevitzsky Foundation in 1958. Composition was interrupted by a diagnosis of cancer and subsequent radiation treatment, and the opera was finally premiered at the Jubilee Hall as part of the 1967 Aldeburgh Festival. Unlike Troilus and Cressida (1954) before it, The Bear was an immediate success. Walton brings a lightness of touch but also romantic lushness to the piece. He and his librettist adapt what is undeniably one of Chekhov’s lighter tales, but still with that characteristic Chekhovian mix of the comic, the tragic and the banality of everyday existence.