''A Harlot's Progress'' is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in six scenes by the British composer Iain Bell which is based on

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...

's series of etchings of the same name. The libretto is by British author

Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William ...

. The story concerns a country girl, who comes to the big city and becomes mistress of an old, rich man. Thrown out by him because of her taking of younger lovers, she becomes diseased and mad and eventually dies in misery.Persché G. Reviews from Vienna. ''

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'', January 2014, p36. The opera premiered at the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prim ...

in Vienna on 13 October 2013 with

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano () is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile run (music), runs, leaps and Trill (music), trills. The term ''coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, whi ...

Diana Damrau Diana Damrau (; born 31 May 1971) is a German soprano who has achieved international fame for her performances, primarily in opera, but also in concert and lieder. She has been successful in coloratura soprano roles since her early career, and gr ...

in the lead role of Moll Hackabout conducted by

Mikko Franck Mikko Franck (born 1 April 1979) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct ...

in a production by Jens-Daniel Herzog. Additional cast members included

Nathan Gunn Nathan T. Gunn (born November 26, 1970, in South Bend, Indiana) is an American operatic baritone who performs regularly around the world. He is an alumnus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he is currently a professor of voice ...

, Marie McLaughlin, Irish mezzo-soprano

Tara Erraught Tara Erraught (born 1986, County Louth, Ireland) is an Irish mezzo-soprano, a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM). Erraught is known for her work with Bavarian State Opera, for which she has been given a ' award. She stepped in ...

, English tenor Christopher Gillett and French bass-baritone

Nicolas Testé Nicolas Testé (born November 28, 1970) is a French opera singer in the bass and baritone vocal range. Career Born in Paris, Testé first studied piano, bassoon and music history in Paris. He studied singing at the Paris Opéra and the "Centr ...

, with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir as the chorus, and the

Vienna Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Theater an der Wien. History ...

. Following the successful critical and audience response to the piece, the performance of 24 October 2013 was broadcast in a live web stream, in what was Theater an der Wien's first such transmission from their main auditorium.

Roles

Synopsis

*Scene 1: ''

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 road, A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St Martin's Le Grand with Poultry, London, Poultry. Near its eas ...

'' *Scene 2: ''The house of Lovelace,

Leadenhall Street __NOTOC__ Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill, London, Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road (England), A11 road from London to Norwich, but th ...

'' *Scene 3: ''A garret in

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

'' *Scene 4: '' Bridewell Prison'' *Scene 5: ''The garret'' *Scene 6: ''Moll's wake, the garret''

Critical reception

The piece was very well received. The ''

Oberösterreichische Nachrichten The ''Oberösterreichische Nachrichten'' (OÖN) () is a German language regional newspaper published in Linz, Austria. History and profile ''OÖN'' was established by the US forces occupying Austria after World War II World War II ...

'' described it as an "enthralling and acclaimed world premiere". The ''

Kurier ''Kurier'' is a German-language daily newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. In 2023, it had an edition of approximately 103,000 copies. History and profile ''Kurier'' was founded as ''Wiener Kurier'' by the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) ...

'' called it "cinematic, dramatic and thrilling" and ''

Der Standard ''Der Standard'' () is an Austrian daily newspaper published in Vienna. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile ''Der Standard'' was founded by Oscar Bronner as a financial newspaper and published its first editio ...

'' referred to it as a "soul-devouring juggernaut". George Loomis of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' praised Bell, saying the mad scene in the piece "confirms that Bell knows how to write for the human voice" and that the composer was "an accomplished writer for the orchestra" and ''Seen and Heard'' hailed it as an "...opera to be reckoned with. ''A Harlot's Progress'' together with ''

Written on Skin ''Written on Skin'' is an opera by the British composer George Benjamin, with a libretto written by Martin Crimp. Benjamin's first full-length opera, it was premiered at the 2012 Aix-en-Provence Festival by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra as a ...

'' by George Benjamin are the great successes of contemporary opera". The newspapers ''

Österreich Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

'' and ''Der Neue Merkur'' reported the tremendous applause the piece received on the opening night. Some of these above reviewers also drew attention to the unrelenting bleakness of the subject matter with Bachtrack stating "Its chances for being incorporated into modern repertory are good – if people can handle the utterly depressing plot". Gerhard Persché of ''Opera'', while impressed with the performance, commented that the libretto was "too deliberately vulgar and provocative" and while praising elements of the music felt that "the composer doesn't seem altogether at home with opera as a form".

References

External links

Iain Bell: ''A Harlot's Progress''
instrumentation, characters, synopsis, Chester Novello * "

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

br>hat ihn gerettet"
– ''Kurier'', 12 October 2013
Barbara Petsch: "Iain Bell – Ein extremer Optimist"
– ''

Die Presse (, ) is a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile was first printed on 3 July 1848 as a liberal (libertarian)-bourgeois newspaper within the ...

'', 3 October 2013
Stefan Ender: "Der Komponist als Enthusiast"
– ''

''
Christoph Irrgeher: "Iain Bell"
– ''

Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' () is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the ''Wiennerisches Diarium'' in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Until April 2023, it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria ...

'', 10 October 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Harlot's Progress, A English-language operas Operas set in the British Isles 2013 operas Operas Music based on art