DIRECTOR David McVicar's confessed long-held ambition to stage Stravinsky's Rake, one of the youngest works in his now extensive CV, is evident in every beautifully-conceived moment of this triumphant production.
Just as importantly however, Scottish Opera has provided him with a cast, conductor, and creative team that is absolutely top-notch.
Utterly faithful to the 18th century setting in its glorious costuming and elements of John Macfarlane's brilliantly clever designs, it is as startlingly modern as it is timeless. Tom Rakewell (Edgaras Montvidas) and Nick Shadow (Steven Page) are Faust and Mephistopheles, but there are echoes of Anna Nicole (most obviously in Karen Murray's bare-breasted Scots madam Mother Goose), Withnail and I, celebrity culture and Madonna videos sprinkled across the story.
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