THE RAKE'S PROGRESS

Pittsburgh Opera concludes its 77th season with the Pittsburgh premiere of the David Hockney production of Stravinsky’s THE RAKE’S PROGRESS. Running April 30, May 3, 6 and 8, 2016. OLLI members and friends are being offered a special discount, but you must act quickly!  For more information on this discount and to reserve a seat contact the OLLI office at (304) 293-1793, or click here for the informatonal flyer.

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, 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 overview of what this means, please see Glyndebourne’s YouTube video “The Rake's Progress: An Introduction”  which includes an interview with David Hockney.