A new production of Igor Stravinsky's only full-length opera, The Rake's Progress, opens on Nov. 20 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
The opera stars Jerry Hadley, Samuel Ramey, and Dawn Upshaw (best known to theatre audiences for her crossover CDs including I Wish It So) and is directed by Jonathan Miller, who throughout his distinguished three-decade-plus career has moved back and forth freely between the worlds of opera and theatre.
The Rake's Progress, inspired by a series of engravings by Hogarth, tells the story of a young man's road to ruin and the girlfriend who is steadfast in her love for him. The text is by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman.
The work had its premiere at La Fenice in 1951, when Stravinsky was nearly 70, and since that time has been produced at opera houses around the world.
In the '80s artist David Hockney created sets for The Rake's Progress (in a production seen at multiple venues including New York City Opera); in more recent years the opera has been performed in Salzburg and by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (in a concert version). It has not, however, been seen at the Metropolitan Opera since its original production there more than 40 years ago. The cast for the Met production includes Denyce Graves and David Pittsinger. Sets are by Peter Davidson, costumes by Judy Levin, and lighting design by Jennifer Tipton.
James Levine is the conductor. The final performance of the opera, a matinee on Jan. 17, 1998, will be broadcast live over the Texaco Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network beginning at 1:30 PM ET.
For tickets, call (212) 362-6000.
-- By Rebecca Paller
