Glyndebourne – Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress

A bearded lady, a small-town boy and a deal with the devil: classic fairy tale meets modern morality play in Stravinsky and WH Auden's exhilarating fusion of high drama and low comedy.

When the mysterious Nick Shadow appears at his door, Tom Rakewell immediately abandons country life and his sweetheart Anne for the temptations of the city. But London’s glittering promise soon corrodes, and love, money and even sanity slip further and further from Tom’s grasp. Can true love save him, or will the Devil have the last laugh?

Hogarth’s paintings charting one man’s path from pleasure to ruin are the starting point for one of the most dazzlingly original works of the 20th century, a Mozart opera that has wandered into a musical hall of mirrors – at once elegant and anarchic. Comedy and tragedy are never far apart in this light-footed work that can break your heart with the broadest of smiles.

One of the Glyndebourne greats, John Cox’s much-loved production returns for the first time