The first (The Heir) and last (The Madhouse) from William Hogarth’s series of eight paintings, produced between 1732 and 1734, entitled The Rake’s Progress which depict the dissolute lifestyle and eventual descent into madness of a certain Tom Rakewell.
Stravinsky’s libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, follows this descent, but attributes it to the malign influence of the devil in the form of Nick Shadow, Tom Rakewell’s manservant, who facilitates and encourages all his employer’s vices.
Overture 2:45
ACT I
scene 1 3:17
scene 2 23:12
scene 3 37:02
ACT II
scene 1 45:55
scene 2 1:00:06
scene 3 1:14:40
ACT III
scene 1 1:26:13
scene 2 1:42:34
scene 3 2:01:04
Epilogue 2:22:53
Prokofiev wrote his Second Violin Concerto in 1935, the year before his eventual return to permanent residence in Russia. The work is in the composer’s later, more lyrical, style (which he termed his ‘new simplicity’); its composition history reflects the peripatetic lifestyle of the virtuoso, as Prokofiev himself put it:
“Reflecting my nomadic concertising existence, the Concerto was written in the most diverse countries: the main subject of the first movement was written in Paris, the first theme of the second movement – in Voronezh, the instrumentation was completed in Baku, and the premiere took place in December of 1935 in Madrid.”
Allegro moderato (0:00)
Andante assai (10:53)
Allegro ben marcato (20:49)
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Iaago
The Art of Listening 