The Rake's Progress
This masterpiece of mid-20th century opera (premiered in 1951) was inspired by a famous set of paintings and engravings of the same title by William Hogarth from the 1730s, which Stravinsky had seen at an exhibition in Chicago. The Faustian plot traces the rise and fall of Tom Rakewell, an ambitious young man, who, goaded and tricked by Nick Shadow, betrays his beloved Ann Trulove, but is eventually redeemed by her constancy. A cautionary tale for a hedonistic age. Performed in English with projected supertitles.
Read more about the opera's origins and themes here.
Music by Igor Stravinsky
Libretto by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman
Conducted by Andrew Altenbach
Stage direction by Nathan Troup
File
Program
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