The Rake’s Progress at Glimmerglass: Temptation and collapse

The Rake's Progress

Deborah Nansteel (Baba the Turk), Adrian Kramer (Tom Rakewell)

Aleksey Bogdanov (Nick Shadow), Adrian Kramer (Tom Rakewell)

Adrian Kramer (Tom Rakewell), Marc Webster (Trulove), Lydia Grindatto (Anne Trulove)

Adrian Kramer (Tom Rakewell), Tzytle Steinman (Mother Goose)

By Edward Sava-Segal, 04 August 2025

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“...shaped by theatrical artifice, layered allusion, and deliberate distortion”

Reviewed at Alice Busch Opera Theater, Cooperstown on 3 August 2025

Stravinsky, The Rake's Progress

Joseph Colaneri, Conductor

Eric Sean Fogel, Director

John Conklin, Set Designer

Lynly Saunders, Costume Designer

Robert Wierzel, Lighting Designer

Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra

Glimmerglass Festival Chorus

Adrian Kramer, Tom Rakewell

Aleksey Bogdanov, Nick Shadow

Lydia Grindatto, Anne Trulove

Deborah Nansteel, Baba the Turk

Marc Webster, Trulove

Tzytle Steinman, Mother Goose

Kellan Dunlap, Sellem

Porgy and Bess: Catfish Row arrives in Kansas City

Hilary Stroh, 28th February

Francesca Zambello's magnificent production of the Gershwins’ American epic comes to the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

****1

Brian Vu and Meredith Arwady shine in Glimmerglass Candide

David Wolfson, 8th July

Glimmerglass Opera Festival’s production of Candide leans heavily on a dry comedic sensibility, which most of the cast execute admirably.

***11

To the World: a musical geography lesson at Glimmerglass

Cameron Kelsall, 8th August

In place of a full musical, this revue highlighted classic and contemporary songs that celebrate places and cultures, although some selections seemed questionable out of context.

**111

A streamlined Trovatore at the Glimmerglass Festival

Cameron Kelsall, 7th August

Rising mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis offers a gorgeously sung and grippingly acted portrait of Verdi's gypsy.

****1

Isabel Leonard soars in Glimmerglass Festival's Songbird

Cameron Kelsall, 6th August

Set in New Orleans during the Jazz Age, this riff on Offenbach's La Périchole captures the festive spirit of the summer, despite some tired jokes.

***11

WNO's Samson et Dalila shows how sweet love's poison can sound

Sydney Boyd, 1st March

Strong singing but a stellar orchestra and staging make for a riveting production at the Kennedy Center.

****1

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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.

Temptation and collapse, styled: The Rake’s Progress at Glimmerglass