Akhnaten

When the Phelim McDermott’s production of Philip Glass’s landmark 20th-century masterpiece Akhnaten premiered at the Met in 2019, it caused a sensation—selling out night after night and earning the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. And when the opera returned in spring 2022, the reaction was just as overwhelming. In this radio broadcast, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo reprises his stunning portrayal of the title character, an ancient pharaoh determined to revolutionize Egyptian society. Starring alongside him, mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb is his queen, Nefertiti, with soprano Dísella Làrusdóttir as Queen Tye and bass-baritone Zachary James as Amenhotep III, Akhnaten’s ghostly father. Maestro Karen Kamensek once again takes the podium to lead this hypnotic, transportive score.