The Rake's Progress

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The Rake's Progress is an English opera in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto written by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings A Rake's Progress (1733–1735) of William Hogarth which Stravinsky had seen on May 2, 1947 in a Chicago exhibition.

The story concerns the decline and fall of one Tom Rakewell, who deserts Anne Trulove for the delights of London in the company of Nick Shadow, who turns out to be the Devil. After several misadventures, all initiated by the devious Shadow, Tom ends up in Bedlam. The moral of the tale is: "For idle hearts and hands and minds the Devil finds a work to do."

It was first performed in Venice on September 11, 1951, with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf premiering the role of Anne Trulove. In 1957, it was a part of the first season of the Santa Fe Opera under the direction of John Crosby, who persuaded the composer to attend rehearsals. Stravinsky returned to the SFO each summer through 1963. For the noteworthy 1975 Glyndebourne Festival Opera production, sets and costumes were designed by David Hockney.

There have been more than half a dozen recordings of the opera, and it is occasionally performed.

[edit] Quotes

Shadow (goading Tom into further ridiculous behavior):

No eye his future can foretell

No law his past explain

Whom neither Passion may compel

Nor Reason can restrain.

[edit] Synopsis

ACT ONE

Tom Rakewell is courting Anne Trulove outside her father's house in the country. Trulove has doubts about his daughter's proposed marrige and tries to arrange a regular job for Tom; but he resists the idea and, left on his own, declares his intention to "live by my wits and trust to my luck". When Tom expresses his wish for money, Nick Shadow appears and tells him that an unknown uncle has left him a substantial fortune. He then invites Tom to employ him as a servant and go with him to London to sort out his inheritance. The second scene, set in Mother Goose's brothel, shows Shadow introducing his new master to the sleazy aspects of London life. But Tom is uneasy and laments his betrayal of love, yet accepts Mother Goose's invitation to spend the night with her. Meanwhile, back in the country, Anne wonders why she has not heard from Tom. She decides to go and look for him.

ACT TWO

Tom is bored with his dissolute life. He utters his second crucial wish, for happiness, whereupon Nick makes the odd suggestion that he demonstrate his freedom by marrying Baba the Turk, the bearded lady at a fair. Soon afterwards Anne finds Tom's London house, only to see him emerge from a sedan chair which also contains Baba, whom he has just married. Tom tells Anne to leave, yet genuinely regrets what has happened. In the next scene Tom is clearly finding his eccentric marriage intolerable, as Baba is a chatterbox with a fiery temper. He silences her by throwing his wig over her face, then falls asleep. Waking from a strange dream, he sees Nick making the dream come true by setting up a "fantastic baroque machine" to turn stones into bread - hinting that if such machines were mass-produced Tom could become a saviour of mankind.

ACT THREE

The plan has failed - the act starts with the auction of the ruined Tom's property. The objects for sale include Baba, who has remained immobile since being silenced by the wig. When unwrapped, she resumes her tantrum, but calms down when Anne enters. Baba advises her to find Tom and "set him right", then returns to her life in the fairground. In a graveyard, Nick reveals his identity and demands Tom's payment - with his soul - for a year and a day of service; but as midnight strikes, Nick offers him an escape in the form of a game of cards, which Tom wins, thanks to the benign influence of thoughts of Anne. Defeated, Nick sinks into the ground, condemning Tom to insanity as he goes. Consigned to Bedlam, Tom believes he is Adonis. Anne ("Venus") visits him, sings him to sleep, then quietly leaves him. When he realizes she has gone, he dies. Five characters point the simple moral: that the Devil finds work for idle hands.