The Rake's Progress is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings A Rake's Progress (1733–1735) of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on 2 May 1947, in a Chicago exhibition. The story concerns the decline and fall of one Tom Rakewell, who deserts Anne Trulove for the delights of London in the company of Nick Shadow, who turns out to be the Devil. After several misadventures, all initiated by the devious Shadow, Tom ends up in Bedlam, a hospital for the insane at that time situated in the City of London. The moral of the tale is: "For idle hearts and hands and minds the Devil finds work to do." Performance history It was first performed at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 11 September 1951, with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf creating the role of Anne Trulove, and Robert Rounseville that of Tom Rakewell. It was first given in Paris at the Opéra-Comique on 18 June 1952, under the baton of André Cluytens and produced by Louis Musy. The American premiere was on 14 February 1953, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, conducted by Fritz Reiner and produced by George Balanchine. Although the BBC had previously produced a studio recording (broadcast on 2 January 1953), and the Glyndebourne Opera mounted a staged production at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh in August 1953, the first staging in England was by the same company at the Glyndebourne Festival itself, opening on 15 July 1954. In 1957, it was a part of the first season of the Santa Fe Opera under the direction of John Crosby, who persuaded the composer to attend rehearsals. Stravinsky returned to the SFO each summer through 1963. In 1961, Ingmar Bergman produced the opera at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, where it opened on 22 April. The noteworthy 1975 Glyndebourne Festival Opera production was directed by John Cox, used sets and costumes were designed by David Hockney, and starred Leo Goeke as Tom Rakewell. In 2010 the Berlin Staatsoper debuted Krzysztof Warlikowski's production, which transported the action from England to America and set it in the 20th century. The production was full of references to American culture, such as Andy Warhol. in 2015, the Utah Opera produced the opera with the