Endlessly engrossing
It seems a travesty that Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, one of the seminal works of the 20th by one of America’s most iconic composers, is only just receiving its Met premiere in 2019, some 35 years after its first performance!
It was gratifying, therefore, that this evening’s premiere was such a resounding triumph, a sumptuous feast for the eyes and ears and an outstanding testament to Glass’s enduring operatic vision.
Between Phelim McDermott’s jaw-dropping production, Karen Kamensek’s incisive conducting, and a cast who triumphed despite the occasional rough patch, Akhnaten was at once invigorating, hypnotic, breathtaking, and strangely moving.
Indeed, despite the opera’s near-four-hour duration (and seemingly endless musical repetitions), this performance was endlessly engrossing: each act felt like one long trance, every slow-motion movement and swirling arpeggio as gripping and enchanting as the next.
I’ll be back later this weekend with a fuller report.
Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera
Callum John Blackmore
Callum Blackmore is a writer and a researcher currently completing a PhD in historical musicology at Columbia University. Before moving to New York, Callum was awarded degrees from the University of Auckland and the University of Leeds, and has worked with opera companies in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. His research currently focuses on opera and politics in the wake of the French Revolution.
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Topics: first glance, Metropolitan Opera
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People: Karen Kamensek, Phelim McDermott, Philip Glass
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Works: Akhnaten
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Places & Organizations: Metropolitan Opera
