FROM AROUND THE WORLD: KANSAS CITY.(Lyric Opera of Kansas City's production of Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress)(Brief Article)(Review)

The thirtieth anniversary of Igor Stravinsky's death prompted flurries of programming in New York and Los Angeles, but the Kansas City Symphony took the lead in a citywide, multiple-organization festival of the composer's music. Lyric Opera of Kansas City contributed a Rake's Progress of a sophistication that would have been unimaginable from this company only a few years ago. Created for Edmondton Opera and subsequently mounted in Calgary, Michael Cavanaugh's staging brought new depth to an opera that can be reduced to cartoon characters. Ken McDonald's decors were bright but also complex and evocative, and Thomas C. Kase made lighting one of the most compelling factors of all. Costume designer Robert Shannon mixed modern and Hogarth-era clothing to striking effect, in the end transcending any particular time and place.

Anne Trulove can seem a bloodless goody-two-shoes, but Sari Gruber, in her 1950s red dress and heels, made her a thoroughly believable character who's simply determined to do the right thing. And she sang stunningly, her gleaming soprano nailing pitches dead-on and making music of even the most disjunct lines. Chad Shelton got Tom Rakewell's youthful impatience just right -- ...