The Rake's Progress/ Der Wüstling

One inspiration for this "moral fable" in "Italian-Mozartian" style ("I will lace each aria into a tight corset") was Hogarth's series tracking the downfall of Tom Rakewell, who squanders his inheritance on women, gambling, and drink and dies in a madhouse. In Auden's much admired libretto, Tom is equipped with a sporadic moral conscience, as well as a satanic alter ego: Nick Shadow. As in Oedipus Rex, man is here a victim of implacable forces that control and crush him. But Anne Trulove, steadfast in devotion, rescues Tom's soul. The pervasive detachment of Stravinsky's score doubles the pathos of Anne's final lullaby.

Orchesterbesetzung: Major roles: lyrS,dramM,hT,Bar; minor roles: A,T,2B; chorus 2(II=picc).2(II=corA).2.2-2.2.0.0-timp.perc:offstage bell/cuckoo-hpd(or pft)-strings