Barbara Hannigan conducts Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress
Linus Fellbom (stage direction), William Morgan (Tom Rakewell), Aphrodite Patoulidou (Anne Truelove), John Taylor Ward (Nick Shadow), Kate Howden (Baba the Turk) ...
Thank you for your understanding.
Cast
Linus Fellbom — Stage director, lighting designer
Anna Ardelius — Costumes
Theresia Frisk — Make-up artist
William Morgan — Tom Rakewell
Aphrodite Patoulidou — Anne Trulove
John Taylor Ward — Nick Shadow
Kate Howden — Baba the Turk
Erik Rosenius — Father Trulove
Ziad Nehme — Sellem
Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble
Alexander Einarsson — Chorus Master
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Hannigan — Conductor
Program notes
The final work of Igor Stravinsky’s “neoclassical” period before he sought reinvention in serialism, The Rake’s Progress sees the Russian master looking to Mozart for stylistic and figural inspiration without straying far from his characteristically ambiguous sense of tonality. Inspired by a series of 18th-century engravings by William Hogarth, and with a libretto by the great W.H. Auden (introduced to the composer by none other than Aldous Huxley) and Chester Kallman, the opera traces the precipitous rise and Faustian fall from grace of Tom Rakewell, who abandons his fiancée Anne Trulove for a life of libertinage when he hires a mysterious servant who may yet end up master…
The astonishing Barbara Hannigan, after singing the role of Anne Trulove countless times, returns to the work as conductor in this semi-staged production directed by Linus Fellbom. Hannigan leads the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra through Stravinsky’s gloriously idiosyncratic score with a stellar vocal cast that includes William Morgan as the titular Rakewell, Aphrodite Patoulidou as Anne, and John Taylor Ward as the devilish Nick Shadow.
