Slideshow

Slide Show: The Rake's Progress in 10 Photos

June 11, 2015

Anne is Tom's true love

Colors are brighter and more full at the peak of Tom Rakewell’s journey. Here, Rakewell (Jonathan Boyd) and his fiancée Anne Trulove (Soprano Maureen McKay) enjoy a romantic moment together. Following Portland Opera’s production of The Rake’s Progress, B

The brothel

The devilish Nick Shadow (David Pittsinger, right, in black coat) takes Tom to London, where he enjoys pleasures of the flesh at Mother Goose’s brothel. Pittsinger has performed at the Glimmerglass Festival as well as for companies including the Washingt

Nick sings: "Dreams may lie, but dream. For when you wake, you die."

At the end of the orgy at Mother Goose’s, Nick foretells Tom’s ultimate fate.

Tom: wealthy but not happy

Tom’s finely appointed home is one of over five set changes in this production, which sets a fast, but comfortable pace. Tom wishes for happiness and Shadow convinces him that the best way to achieve it is to demonstrate his freedom by marrying Baba the

Newlyweds Baba the Turk and Tom Rakewell

Played by Portland native Angela Niederloh, Baba the Turk turns out to be an incessant chatterbox, an unintended consequence of his Faustian bargain. Tom sulks while Baba tries unsuccessfully to cheer him up.

Tom has lost everything

In his original 18th century engravings, Hogarth used heavy cross-hatching to texturize his prints. This technique is seen throughout the set design as a reminder of the show's roots. This monochromatic scene here also underscores Tom's fall; he has now

Sellem the Auctioneer

Hockney’s style has been described as pop-art-esque; by way of illustration, Sellem (Tenor Ian Jose Ramirez, in orange wig) conducts the highly energetic auction. You may know Ramirez from his many roles as part of the Portland Opera Resident Artists Pro

Tom stands up to Nick

Having served Tom as his servant for a year and a day, Nick Shadow demands his wages—Tom’s soul—then gives Tom the chance to stay alive by winning a card game. Tom wins but Shadow condemns him to madness before sinking into a grave. Accompanied by bold,

Tom in Bedlam

Tom has been thrown into Bedlam, London’s notorious insane asylum, where in hues of green, he believes himself to be Adonis, the Greek god of male beauty, and where the other inmates all mock him. He is visited by Anne, the fiancée he abandoned, who he n

There is a moral to this tale

The epilogue takes place in front of David Hockney’s spectacular show curtain, art that annotates Rakewell's tale with detailed cross-hatching, creating a sense of light and dark. Hockney's curtain, as well as the entire set, relies on a palette of color

Igor Stravinksy’s operatic take on the 18th century William Hogarth morality tale of Tom Rakewell—a ne’er-do-well who goes from riches to rags in a Faustian bargain—got a crazy makeover in 1974, when art megastar David Hockney was enlisted to create a wild new look for a Scottish production. Now Portland Opera restages Hockney’s vision of The Rake’s Progress with a show timed to parallel an exhibition Portland Art Museum. We get a behind-the-scenes look at Hockney’s set and costume designs in living color, as the curtain rises on this Pacific Northwest premiere. By Rachel Sandstrom

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