Stravinsky's one major opera, The Rake's Progress is one of the masterpieces in the English language. Written in 1947-1951 to a libretto by perhaps the twentieth century's finest librettist, WH Auden, it is the apex of Stravinsky's neoclassical period. Based on the eight satirical Hogarth paintings of the same name the opera is a giant nod to Mozart's Don Giovanni in both musical language and theme.

It is structured as a traditional 'numbers opera'- a set of arias and ensembles divided by recitative which is accompanied by harpsichord. The orchestra is kept traditional classical size with double winds, timpani, two horns and two trumpets along with strings.

The story is bleak. In 18th century England, Anne Trulove (Deborah York) and Tom Rakewell (Ian Bostridge) are engaged. Tom chances to remark he needs money, whereupon a mysterious stranger appears, called Nick Shadow (Bryn Terfel), and informs Tom he has inherited a fortune. Nick asks to be taken in as a manservant, and to collect his salary a year and a day later. Tom and they leave for London. Nick and a brothel keeper, Mother Goose (Anne Howells), instruct Tom in the ways of vice- eventually climaxing in Mother Goose taking Tom, who has forgotten Anne, to bed. Anne arrives and is determined to rescue him from degeneration. In Act II, Tom is suffering from ennui- rich and fashionable but bored nonetheless. Nick suggests he marries the bearded lady Baba Turk (Anne Sofie von Otter). The marriage is not a success, Tom is horrified at her ugliness, and Baba begins to smash all the china in the house. Tom silences her with his wig and then dreams of a bread oven, that will make a fortune. In Act III, the fine house has been abandoned and everything is cobwebby, including Baba Turk who is still sitting there with a wig on her face, and is being auctioned by Sellem (Peter Bronder). Meanwhile, in a churchyard Nick informs Tom of his salary- Tom's soul. He tells Tom he must kill himself at midnight, however he relents and suggests a game of cards. If Nick wins, Tom must kill himself- if Tom wins, Nick will leave him alone. Tom hears the voice of love (Anne, offstage) and wins- Nick is furious and condemns Tom to madness. He is committed to Bedlam, where Anne visits him. He believes they are Venus and Adonis, and when Anne leaves he dies of grief before the chorus come to the stage and express the moral- For idle hands, and hearts and minds, the Devil finds a work to do.

One of the dramaturgical concerns for The Rake's Progress is that the three main characters are static- Nick is always evil, Anne is always pure and Tom is always weak to influence. Thus, the performance is usually driven by the two secondary roles- Mother Goose and Baba Turk. The former doesn't actually sing much but must totally dominate her scene. The biggest mistake in playing Baba is play it camp. It needs bravura. Indeed, Auden himself warned "that on no account be played for laughs. In her own eyes, Baba is as much grande dame as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavlier.'

The major flaw with this recording is the leads casting- the three leads seem to be surprisingly lacklustre. For a start, this is a work in English but there were extended passages where it was hard to understand what they were saying. This is partially the fault of Stravinsky's often bizarre word-setting (he never really bothered to learn English properly), but mostly unclear diction from the cast. Ian Bostridge's naive tenor voice may have worked on paper for the role of Tom but it's strangely dull and devoid of any distracting personality. Bryn Terfel brings a certain star quality to the role of Nick Shadow, and seems to be enjoying himself, but again it is also devoid of the X-Factor that really gives a recording an edge. Deborah York sings beautifully as Anne- but suffers exactly the same problem. Anne Sofie Von Otter has the tricky part of Baba Turk and acquits herself well.

York and Terfel do have some wonderful bits- York's big aria I go, I go to him that closes Act I is sublime and sung with such energy it's a tour de force. Terfel's In youth the panting slave pursues is darkly energetic- this is the Terfel we know and love. His odd spoken words- the 'well...?' that follows for example- are also deliciously evil.

The chorus work by the Monteverdi Choir however is uniformly excellent, with a vivaciousness crispness and precision. They really seem to throw themselves into the Brothel scene with the two wonderful choruses- With air commanding and weapon handy and The sun is bright, the grass is green. John Eliot Gardiner extracts a dedicated neoclassical sound from the London Symphony Orchestra.

The recording is worth it however because it's such a tremendous opera- and there aren't that many choices around. Stravinsky's music and Auden's libretto are witty and charming, taking the best bits of the classical opera idiom and giving them a very mid twentieth century twist without ever drifting into murky pastiche.

Recommended: Yes