Stravinsky: The Rake’s Progress

The Rake’s Progress is one of the rare Stravinsky’s forays into opera. Inspired by a series of paintings by British artist William Hogarth, it pays homage to 18th-century opera, with its succession of arias, recitatives accompanied by the harpsichord… but it is also the last major neo-classical work of Stravinsky before his conversion to serialism.

The Rake’s Progress has not been recorded very often and few versions are available online, making this 1995 performance conducted by Kent Nagano all the more noticeable! The vocal cast featuring Grace Bumbry, Dawn Upshaw, Jerry Hadley and Sam Ramey is splendid.