Rake's Progress

We are reminded that 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Glyndebourne's first visit to Norwich. On offer in 1971 was a choice of Mozart's 'Cosi Fan Tutte', Rossini's 'Il Turco in Italia', and Richard Strauss' 'Ariadne auf Naxos'. My first attendance came in 1986, with Mozart's  'Don Giovanni', and it was my first 'night at the opera' since having moved to Norfolk four years earlier. Whilst a trip to Glyndebourne's home in Sussex still remains unticked on my bucket-list, I still look forward to the touring company's annual visit to Norwich's Theatre Royal, and even more so after the interruptions of 2020.
 
The performances for Norwich this year are 'Don Pasquale' by Donizetti; Handel's oratorio 'The Messiah'; and 'The Rake's Progress', a musical morality tale with music by Igor Stravinsky and a libretto by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman. The revived Glyndebourne production also features the iconic stage designs of David Hockney.
 
Earlier in 2021 the Norfolk and Norwich Festival exhibited the Grayson Perry tapestries 'The Vanity of Small Differences', another work inspired by the paintings and etchings by 18th century English artist and satirist William Hogarth. My interest was therefore already piqued by the tale of Tom Rakewell and his pact with the devil, and so it was that Glyndebourne's offering of 'The Rake's Progress' was the one that I plumped for their visit this year.
 
Divided into three acts, each of three scenes, and concluding with an epilogue that delivers the moral of the tale, the performance lasts just short of two and a half hours, but is utterly engrossing from start to finish. Even after forty five years Hockney's sets remain jaw-droppingly beautiful. The cross-hatched lines pay homage to Hogarth's etchings and yet, with their mixture of black and primary colours, every line seems to add to an overall palette of pastel and shade. Gorgeously lit by Robert Bryan, these sets alone are worth the ticket price, even before being populated by a cast and chorus who are dressed in costumes that blend perfectly into Hockney's imagery.
 
For those dissuaded by opera librettos written in languages other than English, The Rake's Progess is not only in English, but the diction from every singer is as clear as a bell and, for those hard of hearing, is also super-titled above the proscenium arch.
 
It remains hard to pick out individual performances, but special mention must be made of mezzo-soprano Rosie Aldridge, who heroically went ahead in her role of Baba the Turk despite a particularly nasty cold, and deservedly received a huge round of applause at the end. Frederick Jones captures perfectly the naivety and impetuousness of youth as Tom Rakewell, and is paired with the freshness and clarity of soprano Nardus Williams as Ann Trulove –  her aria delivery of  'No Word From Tom' is an absolute delight. She truly is a rising star, and a name to remember. Sam Carl plays Nick Shadow with devilish delight, and was certainly a favourite with tonight's audience.
 
My favourite scene has to have been the final scene of Act Three, where the tragic parting of Rakewell and Trulove is witnessed by a surreal assemblage of masked members from the chorus corralled into a three tiered grid of rectangular cells, as if the jury of the devil himself was passing judgement on our Rake's Progress. And, as we are told in the epilogue, it is the devil that finds the work for idle hands.
 
Kerem Hasan's conducting and John Cox's direction ensure that this revival of Glyndebourne's production of  The Rake's Progress maintains all of the impact and sensation of its original form, and remains just as pertinant as Hogarth's images must have done when they first appeared in 1732. Thoroughly recommended.