The Rake’s Progress at Dutch National Opera & Ballet

The Rake’s Progress continues to appeal because of the music, which is a highlight of Stravinsky’s neoclassical period, and the libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman. Although the Faustian theme is serious, as is the conflict of wealth and status with personal happiness, there is no lack of humour in The Rake’s Progress. The hilarious scenes with Baba the Turk, the bearded woman, are particularly famous. The tragic ending with Tom Rakewell as a psychiatric patient is followed by the moral of The Rake’s Progress: not every rake is saved by true love.