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| Akhnaten statue |
This was a theatrical experience unlike any other. Juggling, a top hat with a skull affixed, full frontal male nudity, masses of blue hair belonging to six people all knotted together, oversized lychee stones and Philip Glass himself all appeared during the course of the evening. There was also a female conductor, which made me happy.
This was an extremely beautiful, sumptuous, mesmerising opera. It held even my attention, as someone who generally finds opera boring. Akhnaten tells the story of Akhnaten's rule as Pharaoh following the death of his father, Amenhotep III. Akhnaten's reign was different to that of his father as he introduced monotheism and formed a new kind of society, the particulars of which are unclear in the opera but no doubt symbolically expressed through the juggling etc.
Anthony Roth Costanzo made a wonderful, otherworldly Akhnaten, combining power and charisma with vulnerability. The Scribe (Zachary James), who also seemed to be the ghost of Akhnaten's father, was amazing - tall and formidable with an incredibly powerful voice. The actors' movements were intensely slow and smooth to the extent that when Akhnaten was walking up staircases I wondered whether he was on a conveyor belt or being otherwise mechanically pulled up in some way. It felt as though every tiny movement had been choreographed to within an inch of its life.
I don't know whether this is characteristic of modern opera in general or Philip Glass operas in particular, but I really liked the bits where the singers were making sounds together with the music for extended periods of time rather than singing actual words. It sounded amazing. One of my favourite scenes, 'The Temple', in which Akhnaten and his mother, Queen Tye (Rebecca Bottone), enter the temple and banish the priests who are performing old rituals, featured a lot of this.
One of my other favourite scenes was one towards the end, 'The Family', in which Akhnaten and his family isolate themselves from society. Their insularity is represented by the blue hair of Akhnaten's six daughters all woven together at the ends, forcing them to move around in a group. I loved the music and strong atmosphere of this scene.
Costumes were unsurprisingly impressive - Akhnaten's coronation robes were suitably grand and multifaceted - I loved his headgear that contained what looked like an oversized lychee stone. Tutankhamun's outfit was as you would expect. My favourite costumes were those of Queen Tye. She wore Queen Mary-early-20th-century style dresses that looked as though they had been designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. Beautiful colours, including a light blue that set off her vivid red hair.
...And during the curtain call, who should appear but Philip Glass himself! The audience went as wild as an opera audience could possibly go.
Next: we shall see
