Hogarth, Auden and Stravinsky: The making of The Rake's Progress

In 1947 Igor Stravinsky, who by now had made his home in Los Angeles, had the idea of composing an opera in English for the first time in his career, to be based on the famous series of prints by noted satirist, William Hogarth. He invited the then expatriate poet, W.H. Auden to write the libretto. Auden responded with enthusiasm: 'I need hardly say that the chance of working with you is the greatest honour of my life'. Illustrating his talk from the piano with excerpts from libretto and music, eminent musicologist and lecturer Prof Peter Hill will explore the way Auden humanised Hogarth's story of a young man's descent into degradation, turning it instead into a moral fable that ultimately engages our sympathy. The combination of Auden's exquisite verses with the diamond-sharp characterization of Stravinsky's music would create one of the most perfect and powerful operas of the twentieth century.

Our annual tour to the Glyndebourne Festival will take place later this year from August 14 – 18. As has been our tradition for some years all the included operas will be introduced by Prof Peter Hill, when each morning he takes us through the relevant score for that evening’s opera via excerpts played on the piano. For one of this year’s included operas, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Peter has decided to give us a more detailed introduction uniting both visual and musical sources when he presents this webinar by way of exploration and anticipation. This year’s Glyndebourne production will be a revival of John Cox’s much loved 1975 production, with the iconic sets designed by David Hockney.