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Russell was invited to direct The Rake's Progress by Stravinsky at the prestigious Maggio Musicale festival in Florence in 1982. Russell says "Auden, one of the librettists, gave me a clue via an old programme note in which he stated that he both he and the composer considered their simple talk of moral decay to be a timeless one. Accordingly, my designer, Derek Jarman, and I updated it to Thatcher's Britain"
Gösta Winbergh plays Tom Rakewell (the rake) and Cecelia Gasidia plays Anne Truelove. Nick, the devil, is played by Istvan Gati. Tom, with walkman, is gradually seduced by Nick with material wealth, and his progress leads to his suicide in the London underground, in the Angel tube station . Russell and conductor Riccardo Chailly. |
