The Rake's Progress

[Belgrove]

Let me endorse Geoffrey Smith's hearty recommendation of The Rake's Progress. The 35 year old production comes up as fresh as the spring grass and is, dare I say, an improvement on the previous video under Haitink.

This must rank as one of the most perfect productions of any opera. I never tire of seeing it, such is its wit, invention and verve. Jurowski captures the astringent tartness of the scoring, which despite its neoclassical facade, is a thoroughly 20 th century piece. The playing of the LPO, especially the woodwinds, is ideal.

The discussion did not mention the excellent Matthew Rose as Nick Shadow. Less the genial pantomime villain, his Devil is a bit of a bruiser and malevolent from the outset. His cursing of Tom in the graveyard is terrifying stuff.

It's perfect, do not hesitate - who'll buy?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Me. Probably. (So much for "do not hesitate": I wish you were my Bank Manager, Bel!)

I agree that Haitink wasn't at his best in this work - too sluggish and careful - and Hockney's superb sets (which so matched the composer's wit and invention) deserved equally sparkling conducting. Andrew Davis in the early '90s was much better and Jurowski sounds an improvement even on that.

[Bryn]

Well I have no intention of buying it on Geoffrey Smith's recommendation. It comes far too late. I ordered the Blu-ray well in advance of its release and am very happy indeed to have it added to all the other DVD and CD recordings of The Rake's Progress in my modest collection.

[Serial_Apologist]

My view of "The Rake's Progress" is that it indicated a welcome end, following 3 decades' worth of Neo Classical output, euphemism for well-crafted trinkets - (I would exclude Oedipus Rex, the Symphony of Psalms, Concerto for Two Pianos, Symphony in Three Movements, Orpheus and the Mass from that criticism) - until the composer once again found his own voice and a consistent language in works written from the Septet onwards. I've always felt Neo-Classicism, in Stravinsky's case, to have been a terrible aesthetic mistake; but, like the Beatles, once he had gained his popularity by being accessible and made his reputation, he was enabled to non-compromise.

S-A

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I agreeably disagree, S_A. Whilst I prefer the "Russian" and "Serial" Stravinsky, I think that all his works are astonishing, perfectly (more than just "well") crafted. I wouldn't argue that they're all of equal "depth", but the imagination , even in the Circus Polka, Jeu de Cartes and the Ode is always engaged and "inspired". And couldn't you also find room on your list of exclusions for Apollo?


... and Persephone? ... and the Symphony in C? ... and the Octet? ... and ... ?

[Serial_Apologist]

I agreeably disagree, S_A. Whilst I prefer the "Russian" and "Serial" Stravinsky, I think that all his works are astonishing, perfectly (more than just "well") crafted. I wouldn't argue that they're all of equal "depth", but the imagination , even in the Circus Polka, Jeu de Cartes and the Ode is always engaged and "inspired". And couldn't you also find room on your list of exclusions for Apollo?


... and Persephone? ... and the Symphony in C? ... and the Octet? ... and ... ?

TBH not really, ferney. Apollo sounds almost like Elgar to me - and I like most Elgar btw, but not Stravinsky sounding like Elgar, when Stravinsky is supposed in my mind to sound like... Stravinsky. And definitely not the three other-quoted titles, all bloodless confections to me = sorry. I've nothing intrinsically against the Neo Classicism of the 1920s - 1940s - Casella, Malipiero, Francaix, Hindemith, Schoenberg ops 23-36 as a worthy spread of examples - but with much of Stravinsky from about 1923 to 1954 it's like an adventure in the wilds has turned into visits to National Trust stately homes. Which was always a kind of once a year thing (like listening to Dvorak's New World) and remains so...

[Bryn]

TBH not really, ferney. Apollo sounds almost like Elgar to me - and I like most Elgar btw, but not Stravinsky sounding like Elgar, when Stravinsky is supposed in my mind to sound like... Stravinsky. And definitely not the three other-quoted titles, all bloodless confections to me = sorry. I've nothing intrinsically against the Neo Classicism of the 1920s - 1940s - Casella, Malipiero, Francaix, Hindemith, Schoenberg ops 23-36 as a worthy spread of examples - but with much of Stravinsky from about 1923 to 1954 it's like an adventure in the wilds has turned into visits to National Trust stately homes. Which was always a kind of once a year thing (like listening to Dvorak's New World) and remains so...

Oh dear. How sad. Never mind. I feel sure such great works as Apollon musagète and the other neo-classical masterpieces IS composed will withstand your disdain for them, S-A.

[Serial_Apologist]

Oh dear. How sad. Never mind. I feel sure such great works as Apollon musagète and the other neo-classical masterpieces IS composed will withstand your disdain for them, S-A.

I'm sure you're right, Bryn, but to call it "disdain" is rather over-egging a pudding, as is your wont. This was the wrong place to raise it, I surmise, but to the best of my knowledge there has been no discussion on 20th century Neo-Classicism in its varied manifestations in music in the two years during which I have been contributing to Radio 3 discussion boards 2 years ago.

[Ferretfancy]

The extraordinary thing about Stravinsky for me is that for all his experiments and stylistic changes, his personal fingerprint always shines through. Even in his last compositions he is still Stravinsky, and that surely is the mark of a great composer. As for Apollo, the last pages have that numinous quality which has been discussed elsewhere on these threads.

[rauschwerk]

...to the best of my knowledge there has been no discussion on 20th century Neo-Classicism in its varied manifestations in music in the two years during which I have been contributing to Radio 3 discussion boards 2 years ago.

Personally I would feel pretty incompetent to discuss neo-classicism. I must say, though, that I am amazed by your comparison of Apollo to Elgar, though I can see what the composer meant when he later said that one passage sounds like something from The Boy Friend! The six excellent and very serious works you cite would on their own secure Stravinsky's reputation, but could he not also write music that could be enjoyed by a wider audience without sacrificing his individuality or his artistic standards? Why is the delightful Capriccio for piano and orchestra (to take one example) not played more often?

[Belgrove]

Stravinsky writes...

'It is easy to find faults ... in "The Rake" ... But though such things matter, they are not fatal. And in any case, I am not concerned with the future of my opera. I ask for it only a measure of present justice.'

Whilst Cosi and Don Giovanni are its most obvious prototypes, it could be argued that the quartet at the commencement of the graveyard scene serves as the bridge into Stravinsky's later austere style. This section was the first to be composed.

Another attraction of the work is the quality of its libretto, a rare thing in opera.

But to return to the DVD, it really is a feast for the eye in addition to the ear, which is what opera is all about. The Hogarthian cross-hatching pervades every part of the sets, costumes and props, even down to the top of Tom's cane and his coffee pot. The use of a restricted palette of colours still manages to be eye-poppingly vibrant, especially so in the auction scene where all colour vanishes, save for Anne and Sellem. The madhouse scene, with inmates confined within a matrix of cells and adorned by grotesque masks mirroring their affliction, manages to disturb and sadden as in no other production I've seen.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Another attraction of the work is the quality of its libretto, a rare thing in opera.

But to return to the DVD, it really is a feast for the eye in addition to the ear, which is what opera is all about. The Hogarthian cross-hatching pervades every part of the sets, costumes and props, even down to the top of Tom's cane and his coffee pot. The use of a restricted palette of colours still manages to be eye-poppingly vibrant, especially so in the auction scene where all colour vanishes, save for Anne and Sellem. The madhouse scene, with inmates confined within a matrix of cells and adorned by grotesque masks mirroring their affliction, manages to disturb and sadden as in no other production I've seen.