Event

Music Academy of the West Presents
STRAVINSKY: THE RAKE'S PROGRESS
ALEXANDER LAZAREV, Conductor
DAVID PAUL, Director

“Both harrowing and uplifting…no opera could be more timely” – New Statesman

Regarded as a masterpiece of 20th century opera, Igor Stravinsky’s virtuosic comedy, with libretto by poet W.H. Auden, was inspired by William Hogarth’s satirical engravings of the same title. The Rake’s Progress is a morality tale tracing the rise and fall of Tom Rakewell, the devotion of Ann Trulove, and the devilish maneuverings of Nick Shadow. In this “ingenious and subtly complex masterpiece” (Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times) the orchestra, performing Stravinsky’s scintillating score, plays a starring role. Acclaimed Russian conductor Alexander Lazarev, former artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater, garnered rave reviews in 2007 when he conducted Rake at the Opéra National de Lyon. Juilliard’s David Paul is mounting a new production for the Music Academy’s 65th anniversary.

The Rake’s Progress is the 2012 Irene Cummings Endowed Opera at the Music Academy of the West.