Toledo Opera presents The Rake's Progress this Weekend
Toledo Opera will perform Igor Stravinsky’s 20th-century classic, The Rake’s Progress, for the first time in its 52-year history. Opening with a crisp brass fanfare, we meet a young couple deeply in love. When Tom Rakewell is told that he has been left a huge fortune, it would seem that they are assured a happy ending. Instead, Tom Rakewell abandons his fiancée and squanders his luck, enticed by the mysterious Nick Shadow, who ensures that Tom gets everything he could possibly want. But Tom experiences one misfortune after another and in the end it turns out that Nick Shadow is the devil himself, and there is a price to be paid.
American tenor Ryan MacPherson sings the title role of Tom Rakewell. Mr. MacPherson stole the show in Toledo Opera’s 2009 production of Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide. Internationally acclaimed soprano Joanna Mongiardo performs the role of his fiancée Anne Trulove, Gustav Andreassen performs the role of Nick Shadow, Anne’s father will be sung by Jeffrey Tucker, the deliciously funny role of the bearded lady from the circus, Baba the Turk, will be performed by Eugenie Grunewald and the auctioneer is Doug Jones. This production is the fourth to be directed in Toledo by James Marvel. Previous productions were Cavalleria Rusticana, Salome and Falstaff, all audience favorites.
At the 1951 première of The Rake's Progress in Venice, the composer himself conducted the orchestra. As Toledo Opera performs its first production of The Rake's Progress, Grammy award-winning Thomas Conlin will be conducting The Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Conlin is a frequent guest performer with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States and Europe.
General & Artistic Director Renay Conlin said “The Rake's Progress is a great masterpiece, both harrowing and uplifting, and very much a parable for our times.” The plot is really one of those timeless stories that can be mapped onto virtually any style of music: a morality tale that cautions of the outcome of licentious, profligate living, while portraying such a life in imaginatively graphic terms.
Performances will be on Friday, November 12 at 8pm and Sunday, November 14 at 2pm at The Valentine Theatre in downtown Toledo. Tickets begin at $30. Student tickets are available for $10, one-half hour prior to curtain, and senior citizen and group discounts are available. Visit ToledoOpera.org to order tickets online and for more production information, or call 419-255-7464, extension 1. Join General and Artistic Director Renay Conlin one hour prior to curtain for informal opera insights to make your opera experience more enjoyable.
The running time for the show is approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes.
Press Release Contact Name: Renay Conlin
Press Release Contact Email: [email protected]
Press Release Contact Phone: 419-255-7464
Organization Name: Toledo Opera
Website or Link: www.toledoopera.org
Organization Address: 425 Jefferson Ave., Suite 601, Toledo, OH, 43604