Glass: Akhnaten
English National Opera, 11th February 2019
For the uninitiated, it’s not exactly an evening pregnant with promise: an opera largely sung in Egyptian, Hebrew and Akkadian, without surtitles, its two hour score chugging through obsessive ostinatos of A minor arpeggios, with glacial modulations. Yet, somehow Philip Glass’ Akhnaten works. Set aside your ideas of traditional opera – this is a far cry from the love triangles, temples and triumphant marches of Aida – and submit to the mesmeric music played out in Phelim McDermott’s beautiful, ritualistic staging for English National Opera, and there’s every chance you’ll find yourself hypnotised under its spell.
Anthony Roth Costanzo (Akhnaten)
© Jane Hobson
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