The Rake's Progress The Rake's Progress The Rake's Progress is an English-language opera 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
Georgian State Museum of Theatre, Music, Cinema and Choreography and 17th-century Persian miniatures, 18th-century French engravings, and the best examples of the old style of Tbilisi painting. The museum boasts the paintings and graphics of Léon Bakst, Alexander Benua, Fernand Liege, David Kakabadze, Lado Gudiashvili, Elene Akhvlediani, Peter Otskheli, and Irakli Parjiani. The museum houses three paintings by Iakob Nikoladze, a founder of the realistic trend in Georgian sculpture and People's Artist of the USSR (1876-1951). Nikoladze's portrait of Vladimir Aleksi - Meskhishvili, a Georgian theatre actor and director (1857-1920), is worthy of note. Nikoladze had to make the bust of Meskhishvili in 1940 to coincide its unveiling with