Opera Guide and Synopsis: The Rake's Progress, by Igor Stravinsky

English Opera with a Libretto by W.H. Auden

The Rake's Progress is an opera in three acts by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written in English by the poet W.H. Auden, is based on a series of eighteenth-century engravings by William Hogarth. The engravings, entitled A Rake's Progress, portray a young man's rise to riches and then descent into immorality and madness.

The opera is written in a neoclassical style, one of the many styles Stravinsky explored in his works. There is a strict divide between aria and recitative, the latter of which uses only harpsichord accompaniment, in the style of composers such as Mozart and Rossini. The Rake's Progress premiered in Venice on September 11, 1951.

Characters in The Rake's Progress

• Tom Rakewell (Tenor)
• Anne Trulove, his sweetheart (Soprano)
• Trulove, her father (Bass)
• Nick Shadow, the Devil in disguise (Baritone)
• Mother Goose, a madam (Mezzo-soprano or contralto)
• Baba the Turk, a bearded lady (Mezzo-soprano or countertenor)
• Sellem, an auctioneer (Tenor)

Synopsis of The Rake's Progress

The story takes place in England in the eighteenth century.

Act I

Scene 1 - Trulove's Country House

Tom Rakewell courts his sweetheart, Anne. Her father, Trulove, worries about Tom's ability to support Anne, so he offers Tom a job. Tom refuses, determining to rely on fortune. He wishes that he had money.

Nick Shadow appears to tell Tom that a rich uncle has died and left him a fortune. He offers his services as a manservant, with wages to be determined after a year and a day, and takes Tom to London to take over the uncle's business.

Scene 2 - Mother Goose's Brothel

Nick takes Tom to a brothel, where he is introduced to Mother Goose and a gang of hooligans. He briefly thinks of his love, Anne, but then gives in to the temptations of Mother Goose and Nick.

Scene 3 - Trulove's Garden

Anne, having not heard from Tom since he went to London, resolves to visit him.

Act II

Scene 1 - Inside Tom's House

Tom wishes he were happy, and Nick Shadow advises him to woo Baba the Turk, a bearded lady and circus attraction.

Scene 2 - Outside Tom's House