Stravinsky: The Rake`s Progress (Ono)

Introduction

A live performance of Stravinsky's final(ish) foray into the world of neo-Classicism from the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, recorded in April 2007.

Very loosely-based on William Hogarth's 18th century drawings, the story tells of Tom Rakewell, who is due to be married to Anne Trulove, but is waylaid by a sinister stranger, Nick Shadow, who enveigles his way into Tom's employment on the promise of showing him that there is much more to life.

Nick, of course, is the Devil, and Tom's life is slowly unravelled and he ends up as an inmate of the notorious 'Bedlam' Hospital, being sent mad after beating Shadow at a card game.

Visual

Almost demonstration-quality video with bright, vivid colours and great contrast between the light and dark scenes (this doesn't really come across in the attached screenshots).

Audio

The sound quality is also very impressive, although I wasn't able to select the Stereo option for some reason.

Generally, the balance is excellent, but sometimes favours the orchestra, and often it was very useful to get the subtitles up, especially for the chorus numbers. I don't think that this is a problem within this package though, as the language of the libretto is highly stylised and much would be missed if you weren't following the score or knew it by heart.

Extras

The longest extra is a 9 minute 'film' of some rehearsal footage that looks as if its been shot on someone's mobile, and tells us little of how things were put together.

A more useful 6-minuter consists of a chat by the director, Robert Lepage which almost convinces you of the worth of transporting the story to America and Las Vegas in particular.

Overall

I first heard this work when I was a mere slip of a lad, and pratically wore out a recording which I borrowed constantly from a library (in Llanelli, but that isn't important). The score is instantly accessible for a mid-20th century work, and I was always on the lookout for entertaining whores and bearded ladies in my operas.

This, of course, has them all, and was an attractive subject for Hogarth, as he led his audience into the seedy underbelly of London life. The witty and almost arcane libretto could also have been written around that time, it fits so well for the period in which the opera was originally set.

Why then, replant everything in such an alien landscape and culture as the States and Las Vegas in particular? I have no idea, especially as the libretto is always making reference to places which bear no relation to what we are seeing on stage.



As I mentioned, Lepage makes a bold stab at trying to convince us of the need to do this, but it isn't entirely successful, despite being a superbly constructed design.

What makes this disc into a thoroughly worthwhile experience are the performances. Kazushi Ono has the skill to keep everything moving with great panache and when necessary, lyrical tenderness.

The orchestra plays very well indeed. I only noticed a couple of slip-ups (an annoying habit of mine) at the beginning of the Cavatina in Act I, and a small 2nd fiddle / viola domino in Bar 7 of the 'Cabaletta'. These are more noticeable if you pause and go back and listen again several times, which is, I admit, very unlikely to be done by any normal person.

Despite the coke-sniffing and other anachronistic Directorial fancies, the cast take things very seriously and sing (in the most part) wonderfully.

Anne Trulove's (Laura Claycomb) aria towards the end of Act I is stunningly beautiful and the Tom / Shadow relationship is very well done with powerful performances from both, especially in the graveyard scene. William Shimell (Shadow) keeps his most sinister moments for here, and the dramatic effect is tangible.

Andrew Kennedy (Tom) is a suitably arrogant 'hero' yet you cannot help but feel immense sadness in the final scenes in Bedlam.

If there is a weak link, it is the Czech mezzo, Dagmar Peckova (Baba), but this has nothing to do with her voice. The part's demands are legendary, and it seemed to me that the very fact that she was singing in English hampered a lot of her very real talent, and some of the rhythms became quite approximate. Full marks to Ono and the band for keeping things together. You can't complain about her hairiness though!



I have watched this three of four times now, and enjoyed it more each time. Despite my complaints of the updating, some scenes are sitting more comfortably, but I often wish directors would stop trying to be clever and tell the story in the way it was intended.

Of the few recordings out on DVD at the moment, this is certainly one to consider.