Often listed as one of the greatest librettos of all time, I was initially piqued to explore W. H Auden and Paul Griffith's work. Unfortunately, while the work has its moments of real beauty, a pair of lines or stanza here and there which offer some nuance, some reversal of expectation along with an original image, by and large the libretto feels written on much tread ground.

It is difficult to create a new Faustian story which stands on its own feet after Goethe, but if this is the goal, it best to make a fresh take of it. Instead, The Rake's Progress offers the shallower basic tale, never venturing beyond its human consequence. We might anticipate that the devil figure himself, Nick Shadow, might offer us some insight into the nature of evil or his own role in it. Little is here forthcoming. One would think, then, that we would learn something of the condition of humankind in a more philosophical way than that of Goethe's ambition for cosmic scale. This, too, is limited to small consequence: the moral, the libretto sings clearly, is that the indolent--the lazy--will not succeed.

Built upon the 18th century paintings by William Hogarth, the writers had much room to explore the glue which holds this story of debauchery together. They did not.

This is not to say that the opera does not have its strengths! Stravinsky's music, as ever, is a modernist trophy shelf. Some of the more powerful include the bonding of the women, those who are living in sin or those of hopeful virtue, Baba the Turk and Anne Trulove, who find common solace in the suffering each has endured. Most satisfying, however, is its non-comedic end, where true love does not triumph over the ignorance of men.

As a piece of ekphrasis--a work which speaks or reflects another artwork--the opera is strong and enduring. As a work of poetry or storytelling, however, it was much less satisfying.