In Venice last week, a pair of orchestra seats for the premiere of Composer Igor Stravinsky's first full-length opera was fetching as high as $500 on the black market. Operagoers and critics came from all over Europe and the U.S. In spite of all this interest, the first-night reaction to The Rake's Progress was one of happy surprise. The harsh and riotous Stravinsky rhythms of other years (e.g., in The Firebird, The Rite of Spring) were missing. The Rake's Progress sang with old-fashioned melody.
Stravinsky got his idea from William Hogarth's eight-picture series...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
