BaL 5.11.16 - Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

0930
Building a Library: Stravinsky 'The Rake's Progress'. Anna Picard compares recordings on both CD and DVD of Stravinsky's operatic morality tale following the fate of Tom Rakewell as he abandons poor Anne Trulove for the delights of London in the company of the nefarious Nick Shadow.


Available versions:

Jonathan Best, Dawn Upshaw, Jerry Hadley, Monte Pederson
Camerata Academica, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Sylvain Cambreling (DVD)

Philip Langridge (Tom Rakewell), Cathryn Pope (Anne), Samuel Ramey (Nick Shadow), Astrid Varnay (Mother Goose), Sarah Walker (Baba the Turk), Stafford Dean (Trulove), John Dobson (Sellem) & Matthew Best (Keeper)
London Sinfonietta Chorus & London Sinfonietta, Riccardo Chailly (download)

Jayne West, Jon Garrison, ArthurWoodley, John Cheek, Shirley Love, Wendy White, Melvin Lowery & Jeffrey Johnson
Gregg Smith Singers & Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Robert Craft

Ian Bostridge (Tom Rakewell), Bryn Terfel (Nick Shadow), Deborah York (Anne Trulove), Anne Sofie von Otter (Baba the Turk), Anne Howells (Mother Goose), Peter Bronder (Sellem), Martin Robson (Trulove), Julian Clarkson (Keeper of the Madhouse)
Monteverdi Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, John Eliot Gardiner

Felicity Lott (Anne), Leo Goeke (Tom Rakewell), Richard Van Allan (Trulove, Anne’s father), Samuel Ramey (Nick Shadow) & Rosalind Elias (Baba the Turk)
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (DVD)

Miah Persson (Anne Trulove), Topi Lehtipuu (Tom Rakewell), Clive Bayley (Father Trulove), Matthew Rose (Nick Shadow), Susan Gorton (Mother Goose), Elena Manistina (Baba the Turk) & Graham Clark (Sellem)
The Glyndebourne Chorus & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (DVD/Blu-ray)

Andrew Kennedy (Tom Rakewell), Laura Claycomb (Anne Trulove), William Shimell (Nick Shadow), Julianne Young (Mother Goose), Dagmar Peckova (Baba the Turk), Darren Jeffery (Trulove), Donal J. Byrne (Sellem)
Symphony Orchestra & Chorus of la Monnaie de Munt, Kazushi Ono (DVD/Blu-ray)

Paul Plishka (Nick Shadow), Anthony Rolfe-Johnson (Tom Rakewell), Sylvia McNair (Anne Trulove), Donald Adams (Trulove), Jane Henschel (Baba the Turk), Ian Bostridge (Sellem), Raymond Aceto (Keeper), Jane Bunnell (Mother Goose)
Saito Kinen Orchestra, Tokyo Opera Singers, Seiji Ozawa

Robert Rounseville, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Otakar Kraus, Jennie Tourel
Igor Stravinsky (Venice 1951)

Eugene Conley (Tom Rakewell), Hilde Güden (Anne Trulove), Mack Harrell (Nick Shadow), Norman Scott (Trulove), Blanche Thebom (Baba the Turk), Martha Lipton (Mother Goose), Paul Franke (Sellem), Lawrence Davidson (Keeper)
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Igor Stravinsky

Judith Raskin (Anne Trulove), Alexander Young (Tom Rakewell), John Reardon (Nick Shadow), Don Garrard (Trulove), Jean Manning (Mother Goose), Regina Sarfaty (Baba the Turk), Kevin Miller (Sellem), Peter Tracey (Keeper)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sadler's Wells Opera Chorus, Igor Stravinsky

Alexander Young (Tom Rakewell), Judith Raskin (Anne Truelove), Don Garrard (Father Truelove), Jean Manning (Mother Goose), Regina Sarfaty (Baba the Turk), Kevin Miller (Sellem), John Reardon (Nick Shadow), Peter Tracey (Keeper)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Oh, goody - one of my favourite operas. I have particular fondness for the Stravinsky Met recording (prepared by Fritz Reiner) and Craft's NAXOS recording.

AND - thanks to Alpie - I see that the marvellous Glyndebourne/Hockney production is available conducted by Jurowski. (Haitink is so underpowered and po-faced in the earlier film of this production.)

[Nick Armstrong]

Oh, goody - one of my favourite operas.

JEG/LSO on the shelves here. Good to know about the Jurowski.

Looking forward to this BAL.

[Richard Barrett]

Interesting... I had no idea there were so many recordings of it.

I got to know it through Stravinsky's (oops corrected) RPO recording, then through the Haitink DVD (and in fact the production it was based on, which I saw twice), but recently I've been listening only to the Gardiner recording. I think it's a highly underrated work.

[makropulos]

0930
Building a Library: Stravinsky 'The Rake's Progress'. Anna Picard compares recordings on both CD and DVD of Stravinsky's operatic morality tale following the fate of Tom Rakewell as he abandons poor Anne Trulove for the delights of London in the company of the nefarious Nick Shadow.


Available versions:

Jonathan Best, Dawn Upshaw, Jerry Hadley, Monte Pederson
Camerata Academica, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Sylvain Cambreling (DVD)

Philip Langridge (Tom Rakewell), Cathryn Pope (Anne), Samuel Ramey (Nick Shadow), Astrid Varnay (Mother Goose), Sarah Walker (Baba the Turk), Stafford Dean (Trulove), John Dobson (Sellem) & Matthew Best (Keeper)
London Sinfonietta Chorus & London Sinfonietta, Riccardo Chailly (download)

Jayne West, Jon Garrison, ArthurWoodley, John Cheek, Shirley Love, Wendy White, Melvin Lowery & Jeffrey Johnson
Gregg Smith Singers & Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Robert Craft

Ian Bostridge (Tom Rakewell), Bryn Terfel (Nick Shadow), Deborah York (Anne Trulove), Anne Sofie von Otter (Baba the Turk), Anne Howells (Mother Goose), Peter Bronder (Sellem), Martin Robson (Trulove), Julian Clarkson (Keeper of the Madhouse)
Monteverdi Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, John Eliot Gardiner

Felicity Lott (Anne), Leo Goeke (Tom Rakewell), Richard Van Allan (Trulove, Anne’s father), Samuel Ramey (Nick Shadow) & Rosalind Elias (Baba the Turk)
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (DVD)

Miah Persson (Anne Trulove), Topi Lehtipuu (Tom Rakewell), Clive Bayley (Father Trulove), Matthew Rose (Nick Shadow), Susan Gorton (Mother Goose), Elena Manistina (Baba the Turk) & Graham Clark (Sellem)
The Glyndebourne Chorus & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (DVD/Blu-ray)

Andrew Kennedy (Tom Rakewell), Laura Claycomb (Anne Trulove), William Shimell (Nick Shadow), Julianne Young (Mother Goose), Dagmar Peckova (Baba the Turk), Darren Jeffery (Trulove), Donal J. Byrne (Sellem)
Symphony Orchestra & Chorus of la Monnaie de Munt, Kazushi Ono (DVD/Blu-ray)

Paul Plishka (Nick Shadow), Anthony Rolfe-Johnson (Tom Rakewell), Sylvia McNair (Anne Trulove), Donald Adams (Trulove), Jane Henschel (Baba the Turk), Ian Bostridge (Sellem), Raymond Aceto (Keeper), Jane Bunnell (Mother Goose)
Saito Kinen Orchestra, Tokyo Opera Singers, Seiji Ozawa

Robert Rounseville, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Otakar Kraus, Jennie Tourel
Igor Stravinsky (Venice 1951)

Eugene Conley (Tom Rakewell), Hilde Güden (Anne Trulove), Mack Harrell (Nick Shadow), Norman Scott (Trulove), Blanche Thebom (Baba the Turk), Martha Lipton (Mother Goose), Paul Franke (Sellem), Lawrence Davidson (Keeper)
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Igor Stravinsky

Judith Raskin (Anne Trulove), Alexander Young (Tom Rakewell), John Reardon (Nick Shadow), Don Garrard (Trulove), Jean Manning (Mother Goose), Regina Sarfaty (Baba the Turk), Kevin Miller (Sellem), Peter Tracey (Keeper)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sadler's Wells Opera Chorus, Igor Stravinsky

Alexander Young (Tom Rakewell), Judith Raskin (Anne Truelove), Don Garrard (Father Truelove), Jean Manning (Mother Goose), Regina Sarfaty (Baba the Turk), Kevin Miller (Sellem), John Reardon (Nick Shadow), Peter Tracey (Keeper)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky

The last two entries look as if they are the same apart from the orchestra. Since the RPO recording was issued by Columbia, are they actually one and the same?

I struggle with this opera, but certainly enjoy Chailly and Jurowski. It'll be interesting to hear this BAL.

[Pulcinella]

In my youth (don't laugh!) I went to a concert performance in the Bluecoat School, Liverpool.
In the interval (no idea now how it was structured actwise) I went to peer at the harpsichord and the music on the stand, only to be asked by the player if I wanted to turn the pages for him for the remainder of the performance!
Naturally, I said yes: a marvellous introduction to the work.
The Hockney set is very special indeed.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The last two entries look as if they are the same apart from the orchestra. Since the RPO recording was issued by Columbia, are they actually one and the same?
.

I did wonder that myself.

[Bryn]

The last two entries look as if they are the same apart from the orchestra. Since the RPO recording was issued by Columbia, are they actually one and the same?

I struggle with this opera, but certainly enjoy Chailly and Jurowski. It'll be interesting to hear this BAL.

The "Columbia Symphony Orchestra" is a listing error on the Presto Classical site. The correct attribution to the RPO is given in the boxed set itself.

I am a little surprised to see the Salonen film DVD currently only available "used".

[BBMmk2]

JEG/LSO on the shelves here. Good to know about the Jurowski.

Looking forward to this BAL.

Aha! Must get to know this one more but at the moment I have enough to be getting on with! :)

[Bryn]

On CD I have 3 composer conducted performances, the JEG and the Craft. On DVD I have the Haitink, the Cambreling and the cut film version conducted by Salonen. Then on Blu-ray it's Ono and Jurowski. For me the Jurowski comes out top.

[Conchis]

I only know the Stravinsky performance, which I own as part of the big Sony Stravinsky box, although I picked up the JEG recordings (for a quid) earlier this year.

The only time I've seen it was a concert performance at the Barbican in 2000 - Richard Hickox conducting, Philip Langridge as Tom Rakewell.

[Bryn]

I only know the Stravinsky performance, which I own as part of the big Sony Stravinsky box, although I picked up the JEG recordings (for a quid) earlier this year.

The only time I've seen it was a concert performance at the Barbican in 2000 - Richard Hickox conducting, Philip Langridge as Tom Rakewell.

I take it you refer to the 22 disc Stravinsky box. The most recent Sony Stravinsky box has both the NY Met and ROH recordings. The latter is very much the better, to my ears. The recording of the original Venice production is something of an embarrassment.

[Conchis]

I take it you refer to the 22 disc Stravinsky box. The most recent Sony Stravinsky box has both the NY Met and ROH recordings. The latter is very much the better, to my ears. The recording of the original Venice production is something of an embarrassment.

Yep, that's the one.

[ardcarp]

I'm really looking forward to this too. I haven't had much exposure to this piece since a music student x-number of years ago...when I absolutely adored it. I guess it might be a tricky job for the reviewer. BTW, I think the first UK staging was by the very enterprising Cambridge University Opera Group, c. mid-50s?

[Bryn]

Oops, talking of embarrassment, I quite forgot i also have the Nagano CDs (which I must have shelved when I got them an have never got round to listening to them). I am currently watching/listening to the Ross Noble, oops, Vladimir Jurowski, but will give the Nagano (Dawn Upshaw as Anne) a spin tomorrow.