The Liceo adores 'Akhnaten,' Philip Glass's Egyptian fantasy
The theater programs the opera by the American composer with the spectacular stage direction of Phelim McDermott
BarcelonaEverything suggests that Akhnaten will be one of the highlights of the Barcelona opera season. "It's a total spectacle," says Víctor Garcia de Gomar, the artistic director of the Liceu, who has scheduled six performances from October 19 to November 3, plus a seventh for those under 35 on October 16. Certainly, this production, with stage direction by Phelim McDermott, has all the elements that should guarantee an artistic success. First and foremost, the score by Philip Glass (Baltimore, 1937), who composed this opera about the Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti in 1983. It was the culmination of the first trilogy about characters that had begun with Einstein on the beach (1976) and Satyagraha (1980), about Gandhi.
A AkhnatenGlass maintains the constants of minimalism, such as frenetic reiterations and short melodies, but inserted into a more conventional dramatic structure, and dispenses with the violins. And he entrusts the lyrical prominence to a countertenor, who at the Liceu will be the American Anthony Roth Costanzo (debuting at the Liceu). "Voice, trumpet, and flute are the only high voices, which is very unusual," explains the American Karen Kamensek, who will conduct the Liceu orchestra. "I've been working for a long time with this music, which has fascinated me since I was very young," says Kamensek, who already conducted the premiere of McDermott's production at the London Opera in 2016 and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2019. All of this contributes to the atmosphere of a mystery that seeks to navigate. Pharaoh was soon considered a visionary and an unscrupulous tyrant.. Akhnaten, by the way, won the Grammy for best recording in 2020.
And this is where the second element comes in: McDermott's stage direction, which distances Akhnaten of the operatic clichés about Egypt. It doesn't fill the stage with sand, but it doesn't renounce spectacularity and deploys resources such as superimposed floors, 3D mapping, and symbolic games, in addition to Kevin Pollard's exuberant and fanciful costumes and the jugglers of the Gandini company. "The juggling creates a visual metaphor for the music and generates a tension that runs through the entire work," says McDermott, who interprets Glass's opera as a kind of "ritual dream" in keeping with a "mythical and idealistic vision" of Ancient Egypt.
'The Hymn to Aten' in Catalan
The third highlight is the cast, led by countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, an expert on Glass's opera and McDermott's production: he sang the role in London and Los Angeles in 2016 and in New York in 2019. He will be accompanied by Tunisian mezzo-soprano Katerina Estrada Tretyakova from the Russian Riba as Queen Tye and American bass Zachary James as the scribe. The cast is completed by Juan Martín Royo, Toni Marson, José Manuel Montero, Alba Valdivieso, Carmen Buendía, Mar Esteban, Marina Pinchuk and Anna Tobella.
One of the peculiarities ofAkhnaten is The hime in Aten of the second act, a monologue that the countertenor must perform in the language of the country where each performance is being performed. "It's a kind of prayer that I'll try to sing in Catalan as best as possible. I'll focus on the phonetics of the vowels," explains Anthony Roth Costanzo.
With the premiere ofAkhnaten In Barcelona, the Liceu maintains its commitment to contemporary opera of the last forty years. Three years ago it already programmed Anthony & Cleopatra, by another composer from the minimalist school, John Adams, and also set in Egypt.
