The comedian Chris Rock once quipped that a man is only as faithful as his options. This opera begs the question, is he right, are we as good as we think we are or do the circumstances of geography and class just limit our opportunities to be amoral? Introduce Tom Rakewell, a nice country boy in love. Ben Bliss plays his introduction artfully, almost weak; his voice will develop through the course of the opera as his character changes after being gifted a fortune and moving to London where his nice boy ways are put to the Chris Rock test.
The Rakes Progress is a delight. Baba Turk a repertoire favorite, joining other minor characters who steal the show like Dulcamara. I revel in Stravinsky’s squeaks and discords, but damn he’s never avant-garde for the sake of testing the audience, or proving how atonal he can be. It’s pointed, and when he chooses the orchestra to just traditionally support a character he makes it look easy reminding me of when the artist Picasso would shift gears and draw something very realistic.
A plus and minus of this opera is that there are more than a few brief pauses for set changes that slow down the momentum, but on the other hand each time the curtain came up my eyes got big and excited, ’another set!’ I could have used an intermission somewhere within the first two acts and I wonder if other productions break it up that way. A few operas at the Met have been cut to only one intermission and I wonder if that’s because they’re no longer selling food and drinks during the pandemic.
The opera, a collaboration between Stravinsky and Auden, is based on a series of etchings by the artist William Hogarth about a man who turns to vice and goes mad. You can view the prints below from the Royal Academy:
Speaking to my friend Rob who plays clarinet, I mentioned that during the intermission most of the orchestra remained to rehearse ahead of Act 2, and I made a similar observation during Berg’s Wozzeck, another modern composition. Rob explained that modern composers don’t always write music that “fit into the fingers” the way classical and romantic composers do. I love this like music is something you can hold when in truth it’s ephemeral as the scent of lilac. Musicians like Bach and Mozart made music that established rules and expectations for classical music, but modern composers often subvert those exceptions. All the training might scream that the index finger is up, but Stravinsky is yelling – pinky.
The opera is musically so complicated that I was impressed that it could hold a forward thrust and keep its cohesion. Like Shakespeare, like Verdi, the opera takes us through the full spectrum of human feeling. I came today with no expectations and am leaving with tears of laughter and heartbreak. The lullaby sung by Gold Schultz at the end was a storm in a tea cup. Can one heart hold so much feeling? And then, and then it all ends with a wise laugh, and like Chris Rock says “You can either be married and bored, or single and lonely. Ain’t no happiness anywhere.”
*I was happy today at the opera with my sweetheart and a lovely day it was.
So What is The Rakes Progress all about?
Tom Rakewell is a nice country boy who is in love with a nice girl with a nice and worrying father. Things are set up for them to get married until Tom inherets a fortune and moves to London where he is introduced to the vices of women,drink, and cards. Before it’s all done he will have to play a hand with the devil and will there still be time for him to repent and return to his love and quiet life.
Composer……………………..……… Igor Stravinsky
Libretto…………………………………. W.H. Auden
Conductor…………………………..… Susanna Malkki
Tom Rakewell……………………….. Ben Bliss
Anne Trulove………………………… Golda Schultz
Nick Shadow………………………… Christian Van Horn
Trulove……………………….………….. James Creswell
Baba The Turk………………………. Raehann Bryce-Davis
Keeper of the Madhouse…….. Paul Corona
Recitative Accompanist…….… Jory Vinikour
5/30/22
Met Opera