John Vacation (heart) within the title position of LA Opera’s 2026 manufacturing of Akhnaten, with Vinicius Costa (left) as Aye and Hyungjin Son (proper) as Horemhab. Photograph credit score: Cory Weaver
Phelim McDermott’s hypnotic manufacturing of Philip Glass’s opera Akhnaten made a spectacular return to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion final Saturday, ten years after its premiere. Boosted by a (principally) new, youthful solid, the fan-favorite spectacle was a superb addition to Los Angeles Opera’s fortieth Anniversary Season, leading to brisk enterprise for LAO. Actually, LAO introduced that they added a brand new efficiency of Akhnaten even earlier than opening evening!
A co-production with English Nationwide Opera in collaboration with Unbelievable, Akhnaten premiered on the London Coliseum on March 4, 2016, after which traveled to Los Angeles that fall. ENO revived the present in 2019, the identical 12 months the Metropolitan Opera mounted the acclaimed manufacturing. The Met even recorded the opera stay in 2019, which went on to win the 2022 Grammy Award for Finest Opera Recording. That superlative recording has since develop into my go-to recording of Akhnaten. Thus, LAO’s revival was lengthy overdue.
The third of Glass’s “The Portrait Trilogy” – a trilogy of biographical operas about visionaries who radically modified the course of historical past in science, politics, and (in Akhnaten’s case) faith – Akhnaten chronicles the rise and fall of Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV), who reigned in Egypt between 1351 and 1334 BCE. In these 17 years, Akhenaten moved away from the normal polytheistic historical Egyptian faith and embraced the monotheistic Atenism, centered on Aten (the Solar Disc). The libretto was by Glass in affiliation with Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell, and Jerome Robbins. The texts have been drawn from many sources and sung of their authentic languages, together with Akkadian, Egyptian, and Biblical Hebrew, and have been juxtaposed with English (or German) texts by the narrator.
I noticed Akhnaten throughout its first run on the Met in 2019. On the time, I used to be completely dumbfounded by the visceral energy and jaw-dropping great thing about McDermott’s imaginative and prescient, realized immaculately via Tom Pye’s scaffold set items and the spectacular large orb solar, Kevin Pollard’s terribly wealthy costumes, and, the present’s predominant promoting level and in addition its coronary heart and soul, Sean Gandini’s group of jugglers. Seven years later, the manufacturing remained a profound meditation on energy and faith, and given the present affairs of that exact weekend, the story of a ruler hell-bent on elevating himself to god standing (Akhenaten means “Beneficiary of Aten”) and eradicating the nation’s spiritual system had develop into awfully related to the fashionable world. Although there have been many juggling failures on the opening evening, and “The Metropolis” scenes with the balls in Act II have been reasonably messy (indicators of restricted rehearsal time, maybe?), the manufacturing’s total impact remained spellbinding, bathing the stage in an otherworldly glow.
For me, the attract of catching this revival was the prospect to listen to the brand new solid, and on Saturday, they definitely didn’t disappoint. McDermott’s manufacturing was constructed largely round Anthony Roth Constanzo within the titular position, who had sung in all earlier iterations. Having assumed the position final 12 months at Berlin Komische Oper (in Barrie Kosky’s juggling-free mounting), John Vacation was really a sight to behold. Stoic and eerily calm, with kindness and terror concurrently evident on his face, he personified the ruler with an nearly terrifying charisma. All of that stood in stark distinction to his vivid, ringing voice, whose purity and readability nearly instructed innocence. Vacation comfortably dealt with the calls for of Glass’s rating, singing effortlessly whereas assembly lots of the position’s bodily calls for onstage. “Hymn to the Solar” sounded significantly strong and evocative.
Contemporary from returning as Rosa Saks within the extremely profitable The Superb Adventures of Kavalier and Clay on the Met a number of weeks in the past, mezzo Solar-Ly Pierce dazzled in her LAO debut as Nefertiti, Akhnaten’s spouse, bringing a heat, darkish sound that complemented Vacation’s vivid timbre superbly, significantly within the Act II love duet. Pierce’s tackle Nefertiti was an fascinating case research; as instructed by her glances, she wasn’t content material merely to be a spouse however was additionally actively concerned in politics (Nefertiti was rumored to ascend the throne after Akhenaten’s dying, in spite of everything), which made sense of her presence within the younger Tutankhamun’s scene. However, her quick scene along with her six daughters in Act III (sung harmoniously by Emily Damasco, Julia Maria Johnson, Katie Trigg, Abi Levis, Erin Alford, and Kristen Choi) was filled with tenderness, emphasizing the familial isolation that finally price Akhnaten his life.
Julia Maria Johnson (Meretaten), Emily Damasco (Bekhetaten), and Erin Alford (Neferneferuaten) in LA Opera’s 2026 manufacturing of Akhnaten. Photograph credit score: Cory Weaver
Korean soprano So Younger Park returned gloriously as Queen Tye, Akhnaten’s mom, in a efficiency marked by equal measures of care and ambition for her son’s success – in different phrases, similar to most Asian moms (sure, it jogged my memory of mine as effectively). A former Queen of the Night time (in 2016 and 2019) at LAO, Park’s sparklingly vivid tone attacked the position’s spiky excessive notes fearlessly, a reality she joked about within the quick video beneath. Equally, Park’s voice blended easily with each Vacation and Pierce whereas remaining individually discernible, particularly within the climactic “The Window of Look” that closed Act I.
The royal presence of Zachary James within the central non-singing position of Amenhotep III (Akhnaten’s father) stays the best asset of this manufacturing. In almost each iteration, James was stated to be “stealing” the present, and that was true right here. This time round, I felt that James’ efficiency was much less campy (he’s nonetheless tall, good-looking, and lined in gold, in spite of everything) and much more Shakespearean than earlier than, as if he imbued the position with a way of remorse and powerlessness to cease his son’s actions. There was one thing about his declamatory supply that made him so otherworldly, but regal.
Three present members of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Younger Artist Program crammed the roles of the antagonists, specifically Vinícius Costa, Yuntong Han, and Hyungjin Son, as Aye (Nefertiti’s father and Akhnaten’s advisor), the Excessive Priest of Amon, and Horemhab (Akhnaten’s basic), respectively. On Saturday, Costa took some time to heat up, however the three collectively contributed considerably to the success of the evening. Equally, the LA Opera Refrain, underneath the route of Jeremy Frank, sounded full and strong, significantly throughout climaxes, and even participated in single-ball juggling for some time.
Probably the most puzzling side of the present for me was the conducting by Dalia Stasevska in her debut. On the one hand, there was little question that Stasevska introduced out an thrilling studying of Glass’s rating, injecting a lot vigor and readability into the entire continuing whereas highlighting the intricacies of Glass’s violin-less scoring. She appeared to experience massive, sweeping gestures, and the martial tunes of “Funeral of Amenhotep III” and significantly “Assault and Fall” got here with such formidable drive that they shocked the viewers (it was a pity that she utterly drowned Costa for “Funeral of Amenhotep III” amidst all the joy).
My largest downside along with her conducting was her tendency to hurry up and decelerate mid-phrase. Glass’s rating thrives on repetition and modulation, and to my ears, the fixed adjustments have been jarring, particularly when my mind anticipated consistency. She additionally tended to finish every part abruptly, destroying the opera’s total arch and making Glass’s rating sound episodic at occasions. Probably the most putting instance was the love duet in Act II; amid the duet’s “ahs,” the orchestra sounded labored, nearly as if competing reasonably than offering the heartbeat of the second. Luckily, she improved considerably in that regard by the third act, and the ending was significantly haunting.
Ultimately, Akhnaten stays a rare piece of theater that provides a lot meals for thought. I, for one, am very grateful that LAO introduced it out for his or her Anniversary.
