A Polyphony of Purposes: Archive Materials Regarding the Premiere of Stravinsky's 'The Rake's Progress'

摘要

The object of this study is the reconstruction of the prehistory of the premiere of Stravinsky's opera "The Rake's Progress" on the basis of previously-unknown archive materials. Furthermore, some elements of the plot, as well as some key motifs of the libretto will be compared with Alexander Pushkin's prose narratives, including a proto-text of his Petersburg tales, which has so far never been analysed from this point of view. The object of his relationship are: information about the productions of Stravinsky's works and his popularity in Italy and about his relationship with Italian musicians; facts and statistical data; an overview of previously-unknown archive materials about the Italian premiere of the opera and new information about its production as well as the composer's "polyphony of purposes". New facts taken from unknown correspondence of the author; a comparison of the motifs of the libretto with a previously-ignored proto-text by Pushkin.