Akhnaten

by Philip Glass

seen at the Coliseum on 21 February 2019

This is a revival of ENO's 2016 production directed by Phelim McDermott, again conducted by Karen Kamensek, and with five of the original principals reprising their roles - Anthony Roth Costanzo as Akhnaten, Rebecca Bottone as Queen Tye (his mother), Zachary James as the Scribe, James Cleverton as the courtier Horemheb and Colin Judson as the High Priest of Amun. The newcomers are Katie Stevenson as Queen Nefertiti and Keel Watson as her father Aye.

In 2016 I saw the production twice, firstly from a side seat in the dress circle, and secondly more centrally in order to appreciate the stage design and choreography from a more satisfactory viewpoint; see my review from March 2016 for more details. 

This time, almost three years later, I chose to sit centrally in the stalls, closer to the stage than previously, but with the risk that the comparatively shallow rake of the seats might place me behind heads which would obstruct the view. Luckily for me, the choice paid off and I had an excellent view. Though in some ways it was harder to take in the whole picture, the stalls seat definitely improved the chances of watching the soloists, particularly rewarding since so much of the staging is static or very slow moving. the experience was if anything more immersive as the shimmering orchestration was reflected in the ritualised movements of the cast and the accompanying jugglers.

The visual style (set by Tom Pye and costumes by Kevin Pollard) is only subliminally Egyptian, but imbued with an almost barbaric exuberance somewhat at odds with the often restrained appearance of figures from surviving Egyptian art. This makes for a gorgeous sight, and avoids the risk of pretending to know exactly how realistic the tomb scenes are (after all, they are very obviously stylised themselves); and Akhnaten himself was attempting to transform the entire cultural and religious tradition of the state.

I love the music (I've had the CDs from Stuttgart for many years now), and I really like this production, so I was more than happy to see it again