BRAINERD — The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Public performances will be 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11, at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
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The story concerns the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, who deserts his rural country town and girlfriend Anne Trulove for the delights of London. Being seduced by greed and fame under the spell of his devilish companion, Nick Shadow, Tom meets his moral, mental, and physical demise. The closing moral of the tale is: “For idle hearts and hands and minds the Devil finds work to do.”
This opera is sung in English, with English translation supertitles projected above the stage. Program notes, including a synopsis, are available on the organization’s website .
Israeli director Omer Ben Seadia is in Brainerd to direct the opera. The organization’s music director and Grammy winner, Christian Reif, conducts.
The opera’s protagonist, Tom Rakewell, is sung by tenor Miles Mykkanen. The virtuous Anne Trulove is performed by soprano Kearstin Piper Brown. Lakes Area Music Festival’s own artistic director, John Taylor Ward, will play the devilish role of Nick Shadow. Contralto Sara Couden, also a performer with the Metropolitan Opera, will perform the over-the-top bearded lady, Baba the Turk.
Other principal performers include Kevin Thompson as Father Trulove; Martin Bakari as the auctioneer, Sellem; Allison Fahey as Mother Goose; and Jeremy Harr as the Keeper of the Madhouse.
1/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
2/During dress rehearsal, Tom Rakewell, played by Miles Mykkanen, laments his betrayal of love as the devilish Nick Shadow, played by John Taylor Ward, watches from the background during the opera "The Rake's Progress".
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
3/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
4/During dress rehearsal, Tom Rakewell, played by Miles Mykkanen, and Nick Shadow, played by John Taylor Ward, sing during the opera "The Rake's Progress".
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
5/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
6/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
7/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
8/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
9/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
10/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
11/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
12/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
13/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
14/During dress rehearsal, Anne TruLove, played by Kearstin Piper Brown, sings about going in search of her fiance after he fails to contact her in the opera "The Rake's Progress".
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
15/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
16/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
17/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
18/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
19/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
20/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
21/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
22/During dress rehearsal, Tom Rakewell, played by Miles Mykkanen, expresses boredom and sings of his disillusionment with his current decadent lifestyle during the opera "The Rake's Progress".
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
23/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
24/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
25/During dress rehearsal, Nick Shadow, played by John Taylor Ward, works to exert a negative influence on the character of Tom Rakewell during the opera "The Rake's Progress".
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
26/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
27/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
28/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
29/The cast, orchestra and crew went through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
30/During dress rehearsal, Tom Rakewell, center, played by Miles Mykkanen, laments his actions as his fiance Anne TruLove, right, played by Kearstin Piper Brown, finds out that he has betrayed her during the opera "The Rake's Progress".
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
31/The cast, orchestra and crew go through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
32/The cast, orchestra and crew go through a dress rehearsal of Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera "The Rake's Progress" on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, as part of the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
33/During dress rehearsal, the orchestra plays as Anne TruLove, played by Kearstin Piper Brown, sings about going in search of her fiance after he fails to contact her in the opera "The Rake's Progress".
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
The organization will present Igor Stravinsky’s 1951 opera “The Rake’s Progress” at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd.
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