Conducted by Karen Kamensek, who received an enormous ovation on opening night. This was Kamensek's debut conducting at the Metropolitan Opera. She is only the fifth woman to conduct at the Met, following in the footsteps of Sarah Caldwell, Simone Young, Jane Glover, and Susanna Mälkki.
Akhnaten is the third in a trilogy of biographical "big idea" operas by Philip Glass. First was Einstein on the Beach. Second was Satyagraha, about Gandhi. All three figures had a revolutionary effect on their times: Einstein in science, Gandhi in politics, and Akhnaten in religion.
The final scene of Akhnaten introduces a bass line from the beginning of Einstein on the Beach, thus providing a musical bracket for the whole trilogy.
The final scene of Akhnaten introduces a bass line from the beginning of Einstein on the Beach, thus providing a musical bracket for the whole trilogy.
Akhnaten has one extended solo in the first scene of Act 2, in which the language changes depending on the nationality of the audience. In the Met Opera Live in HD performance, the aria is sung in English. Other parts of Akhnaten are sung in a mix of ancient Egyptian, Akkadian, and Hebrew.
Akkadian is an extinct East Semitic language spoken in ancient Mesopotamia from the third millennium BC until its gradual replacement in common use by Old Aramaic among Assyrians and Babylonians from the 8th century BC. It is the earliest documented Semitic language. Akhnaten lived in the 14th century BC.
Akkadian is an extinct East Semitic language spoken in ancient Mesopotamia from the third millennium BC until its gradual replacement in common use by Old Aramaic among Assyrians and Babylonians from the 8th century BC. It is the earliest documented Semitic language. Akhnaten lived in the 14th century BC.
In one scene, jugglers dance with and toss large orbs, representing the new sun god. The tableau echoes a famous 1908 Maxfield Parish painting "The Lantern Bearers," in which children dresses as Pierrots hold glowing orbs.