Akhenaten Opera
- “Akhnaten’s religion is marked by a uniformity of dress with the characters often sporting the same outfits; this contrasted with how the priests of the old religion were dressed in differing.
- THE OPERA: Akhnaten Akhnaten is an opera in three acts based on the life and religious convictions of the pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV), written by the American minimalist composer Philip Glass in 1983. World premiere of the work was on March 24, 1984 at the Stuttgart State Opera and Akhnaten.
Duration
02:08:31Recording Location
Karlshöhe Church and Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, Germany| Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akhnaten, opera | ||||
| 1 | Philip Glass | 10:44 | Amazon | |
| 2 | Philip Glass | 00:39 | Amazon | |
| 3 | Philip Glass | 08:59 | Amazon | |
| 4 | Philip Glass | 17:14 | Amazon | |
| 5 | Philip Glass | 09:12 | Amazon | |
| 6 | Philip Glass | 12:47 | Amazon | |
| 7 | Philip Glass | 10:10 | Amazon | |
Akhenaten Opera Philip Glass
Akhnaten, by Philip Glass, continues through Dec. 7 at the Metropolitan Opera. It will be broadcast live in HD to movie theaters around the world on Nov. It will be broadcast live in HD to.
| Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akhnaten, opera | ||||
| 1 | Philip Glass | 02:30 | Amazon | |
| 2 | Philip Glass | 05:10 | Amazon | |
| 3 | Philip Glass | 13:43 | Amazon | |
| 4 | Philip Glass | 11:35 | Amazon | |
| 5 | Philip Glass | 07:43 | Amazon | |
| 6 | Philip Glass | 07:28 | Amazon | |
| 7 | Philip Glass | 10:37 | Amazon | |
Akhnaten was a real Egyptian pharaoh
The pharaoh Akhenaten (spelt differently than the opera’s title character) is known for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism; the belief of numerous deities. The radical pharaoh wanted his people to worship just one god – the sun (the Aten). In a bid to enforce his new way of thinking, Akhenaten closed the temples to the old gods, wiped their names from monuments and built a new Egyptian capital, Akhetaten. Still not familiar with Akhenaten’s story? You may have heard of his son Tutankhamun and wife Nefertiti.
Glass was inspired to write the opera after reading books by Freud and Velikovsky
The inspiration for writing Akhnaten came from his reading of Sigmund Freud’s Moses and Monotheism and Immanuel Velikovsky’s Oedipus and Akhnaton. Velikovsky’s controversial book (the work that inspired Glass the most) explores the parallels between the Greek Oedipus, legendary king of Thebes, and the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten.
Akhnaten Opera - Youtube
It’s not like any opera you’ve seen before
Akhnaten Opera Review
The immersive opera doesn’t have a conventional narrative or libretto. Instead, the story of Akhnaten is told through a series of tableaux. Rhythms of Glass’s meditative score are visualised with stylised movement and choreographed juggling. Akhnaten loosely follows the real story of the emperor’s rise to power, the erecting of his new city and the fall of his dynasty.