seekingferret (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
seekingferret) wrote2019-11-20 11:49 am
seekingferret) wrote2019-11-20 11:49 am
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Akhnaten by Philip Glass, staged at the Metroplitan Opera
This was definitely an experience. Like Satyagraha, Akhnaten sits somewhere between opera and oratorio, light on plot and heavy on the viewer imposing narratives and meanings on it. I think it may be slightly more abstract feeling because Satyagraha gains immediacy from its relatively recent historical setting, whereas Akhnaten is about ancient history, and legacy, and generational transmission and loss of knowledge and heritage. All definitely themes I love, and I loved how the opera fleshed them out.
In Glass's orchestral music here, with its typical repetitive forms, everything is about timbre. The orchestra has no violins, and thus has a lot of room for the low end of the orchestral repertoire, lots of cello and bass and bassoon sounds. Anthony Roth Costanza's countertenor voice, as Akhnaten, floats beautifully on top.
I see in my Satyagraha review I emphasize how busy the set was with micronarrative. That wasn't the case this time... To fill time instead, the director used SPECTACULAR JUGGLING. It was a masterpiece of pure pageantry, and I loved it.
I definitely drifted in and out of paying attention a bit in the third act because it was late and the Met was stiflingly hot and the music was repetitive and sleep-lulling, but mostly I found the whole thing thrilling, and I look forward tobironic's thoughts to compare notes.
This was definitely an experience. Like Satyagraha, Akhnaten sits somewhere between opera and oratorio, light on plot and heavy on the viewer imposing narratives and meanings on it. I think it may be slightly more abstract feeling because Satyagraha gains immediacy from its relatively recent historical setting, whereas Akhnaten is about ancient history, and legacy, and generational transmission and loss of knowledge and heritage. All definitely themes I love, and I loved how the opera fleshed them out.
In Glass's orchestral music here, with its typical repetitive forms, everything is about timbre. The orchestra has no violins, and thus has a lot of room for the low end of the orchestral repertoire, lots of cello and bass and bassoon sounds. Anthony Roth Costanza's countertenor voice, as Akhnaten, floats beautifully on top.
I see in my Satyagraha review I emphasize how busy the set was with micronarrative. That wasn't the case this time... To fill time instead, the director used SPECTACULAR JUGGLING. It was a masterpiece of pure pageantry, and I loved it.
I definitely drifted in and out of paying attention a bit in the third act because it was late and the Met was stiflingly hot and the music was repetitive and sleep-lulling, but mostly I found the whole thing thrilling, and I look forward to
bironic's thoughts to compare notes.