Opera in three acts
Music Text Libretto by W H Auden and Chester Kallman (E,Cz,F,G,I)
ScoringMajor 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
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World Premiere9/11/1951
Teatro la Fenice, Venice
Carl Ebert, dir / Nicola Benois, prod / Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Milan / Igor Stravinsky
Repertoire Note 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.
Reproduction Rights
This programme note can be reproduced free of charge in concert programmes with a credit to Boosey & Hawkes/Joseph Horowitz.
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