Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Met’s handsome production of Stravinsky’s rarely-performed THE RAKE’S PROGRESS returns with a vocally sterling cast

• By drediman
• June 1, 2022
• No Comments

This week, Jonathan Miller’s production of The Rake’s Progress returned to the Metropolitan Opera. Given its relatively infrequent appearance in the company’s repertory (the work was last scene at the Met in 2015), the 1951 opera, which features music by Igor Stravinsky and a libretto by British-American poet W. H. Auden, is a treat for completist operaphiles. It tells the story of one Tom Rakewall and his fall from grace – indeed, love, wealth, and finally his sanity slip from his grasp – under the sinister influence of Nick Shadow, who ultimately reveals himself to be literally the Devil incarnate.

In a series of compact, expressionistic scenes, Auden’s English libretto charts Tom’s decline with equal shades of levity and the macabre. Stravinsky’s music is a sophisticated, referential neoclassical homage to 18th-century opera (particularly those of Mozart). However, listen closely and you’ll hear some of the modern, off-kilter angularity for which the composer is famous for. With its stately, arguably cumbersome sets, Mr. Miller’s 1997 staging – which updates the action from the early 18th century to the early 20th century (both periods reference the score itself) – is firmly from the pre-Gelb era. Although it’s all stylish and handsome to look at, the momentum of the opera slackens due to the lengthy set changes that interject themselves between scenes.

Thankfully, the music-making all around is excellent. In the pit is Susanna Mälkki, whose conducting brought the striking, contrasting colors of Stravinsky’s score to glimmering light. The sterling cast is led by tenor Ben Bliss as Tom, soprano Gold Schultz as Tom’s love interest Anne, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Nick. Even if their acting is a tad stiff in places, their vocal performances are invariably lustrous. The opposite of stiff, however, is mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis who, in a raucous Met debut, nearly steals the show as Baba the Turk with her outrageously comic, vocally grounded performance.

RECOMMENDED

THE RAKE’S PROGRESS
Opera
The Metropolitan Opera
3 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
In repertory through June 11