This is the first production at the Latvian National Opera of composer Igor Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress, which title the production’s creative team has interpreted as Izvirtības hronika (The Debauchery Chronicles).

It chronicles the adventures of the opera’s main character – a boy named Tom Rakewell. It all starts with the unexpected news of a large inheritance and a trip to the city which is followed by a whirlwind of revelry and pleasure, then degradation, and finally – madness.

Inspired by a series of engravings and drawings by the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth called A Rake's Progress, composer Igor Stravinsky approached the poet W. H. Auden in 1947 (later joined by librettist Chester Kallman) and over the course of a few years an opera with the same name was created. Its première was in 1951 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, with Stravinsky himself conducting.

Recommended age: 16+

© Boosey & Hawkes Inc/Gehrmans Musikförlag AB.

Synopsis

ACT 1

Scene 1 – The Trulove garden in the English countryside on a spring afternoon.

Father Trulove, worried about the frivolous character of Tom Rakewell, his daughter Anne’s intended one, offers Tom a job in an accountant’s office. Tom does not want to waste his life in a stable job. He is accustomed to trusting his luck and at the moment, above all he wishes to become wealthy.

I wish I had money!

A stranger, called Nick Shadow, arrives and tells of a large inheritance that Tom has received from a distant relative. Shadow urges Tom to go to London and offers his services as Tom’s companion through the ins and outs of big city life, saying that he will ask payment for his services only after one year and one day. Tom hotly promises those he leaves behind that very soon all of London will be at his beloved’s feet.

Scene 2 – The Mother Goose's brothel. London.

Tom is introduced to one of life’s pleasures, the first to stand in the path of his way in the city. In the presence of the brothel-keeper Mother Goose, prostitutes and debauched youths, Tom demonstrates the new knowledge he has acquired from Shadow. The boy can quickly answer when asked what is beauty and pleasure, yet he becomes embarrassed when asked about love. Tom wishes to leave, saying that it is already late, but Shadow turns the clocks back one hour. The Mother Goose convinces Tom to have another drink and shortly his conscience troubles him no longer. The prostitutes offer to entertain Tom, but the madam has first claim.

Scene 3 – An autumn evening in the Trulove garden.

Many months have passed without word from Tom. Anne decides to go to London.

ACT II

Scene 1 – Tom’s house in a London square. Morning.

Tom is tired of the amusements of the city and he feels unhappy. Shadow asserts that a happy person is one who can defeat the two tyrants – desire and conscience.

I wish I were happy!

He thinks that Tom needs to marry the famous entertainer Baba the Turk. The bearded lady will neither encourage desire nor burden his conscience. Embracing this idea, Tom prepares to propose.

Scene 2 – The street outside Tom’s house. Autumn. Dusk.

Anne has bravely reached London. Tom pleads with the girl to hurry back home and forget about him forever. The townsfolk celebrate the wedding of Baba the Turk and Tom.

Scene 3 – Morning. Tom’s room.

Baba bores her husband with tales of her world travels. Tom’s obvious indifference angers her yet he manages to cut her off mid sentence. In his dream Tom sees a cloning machine and upon awaking wishes this machine to be his.

I wish it were true!

In a flash, Shadow appears and introduces Tom to just such a cloning machine that would grant its owner worldwide fame and, in Tom’s mind, also the love of Anne.

ACT III

Scene 1 – Spring. Tom’s room.

Curious onlookers are gathering for the auction of the ruined Tom’s belongings. Among the items to be auctioned is also Baba the Turk. She tells Anne that Tom still loves her and urges her to quickly find him.

Scene 2 – A graveyard.

One year and one day has past. As payment for his faithful service Shadow asks Tom for his soul. Tom begs for mercy. Shadow offers to decide Tom’s fate with a game of cards. In the distance Tom hears Anne’s voice. The strength of his love allows Tom to correctly guess all the cards and free himself from Shadow’s wrath.

I wish for nothing else!

The cheated Shadow condemns Tom to insanity.

Scene 3 – Spring. An asylum.

Tom has ended up in an asylum, where he spends his days, in his mind as the heavenly beauty Adonis – impatiently awaiting his Venus. Anne arrives and Tom begs for her forgiveness.