Pittsburgh, PA
April 11, 2016
Chris Cox, Director of Marketing and Communications
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Pittsburgh Opera concludes its 77th season with the Pittsburgh premiere of the David Hockney production of Stravinsky’s THE RAKE’S PROGRESS.
The plot follows Tom Rakewell, who squanders his large inheritance on women, drinking and gambling.
- Tom’s journey from fortunate heir, to gambler, to inmate at Bedlam is based on a famous series of engravings by William Hogarth from 1732.
- The opera itself is by Igor Stravinsky, who was inspired by Hogarth’s engravings. It premiered in 1951.
- The libretto was written by poets W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman.
- Pittsburgh Opera is performing the David Hockney production (which Pittsburgh Opera owns), with jaw-dropping sets, props, wigs and costumes designed by “the most influential British artist of all time”. Hockney mimics the feel of Hogarth’s original engravings, using black cross hatching and the three colors printers used in Hogarth’s time: red, blue and green.
The performances are essentially a living David Hockney art installation set to Stravinsky’s beautiful neo-classical music. For an easy video overview of this, please see Glyndebourne’s YouTube video “The Rake's Progress: An Introduction”, which includes an interview with David Hockney.
THE RAKE’S PROGRESS features a superlative cast, including:
- Alek Shrader (Tom Rakewell), a past winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions who has had a meteoric rise in the opera world. Alek has performed around the globe to great acclaim, and is making his Pittsburgh Opera debut.
- Layla Claire (the virtuous Anne Trulove), who has received rave reviews by The New York Times and others for her performance in this role at the Metropolitan Opera. Her most recent Pittsburgh Opera appearance was in 2013, singing the role of Pamina in The Magic Flute.
- David Pittsinger, who sings the role of the sinister Nick Shadow, makes his 13th appearance at Pittsburgh Opera, but first since 2008. Mr. Pittsinger is renowned for his Helen Hayes Award-nominated performance as Emile de Becque in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific at the Kennedy Center. He famously performed in both The Met’s Hamlet and on Broadway in South Pacific on the same day.
On stage April 30, May 3, 6 and 8, THE RAKE’S PROGRESS is a powerful way to end the opera season. Tickets start at just $12.
