© 2024 Red River Radio
Voice of the Community
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Metropolitan Opera: Akhnaten by Philip Glass

Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role of Glass's Akhnaten
Paola Kudacki
/
Met Opera
Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role of Glass's Akhnaten

Airs Saturday, December 7, 2019, at 12 noon. The 2019-20 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season opens with Philip Glass’s Akhnaten—the first time the Saturday matinee broadcast season has begun with an opera by a living composer. American countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo stars in the title role of the iconoclastic pharaoh who introduced the concept of monotheism to ancient Egypt. The cast also features J’Nai Bridges as Akhnaten’s wife Nefertiti, Dísella Lárusdóttir as Queen Tye, Aaron Blake as the High Priest of Amon, Will Liverman as Horemhab, Richard Bernstein as Aye, and Zachary James in the speaking role of Amenhotep. Karen Kamensek leads the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. This run marks the Met debuts of Bridges, James, and Kamensek. Written by Philip Glass in 1983, Akhnaten had its highly acclaimed Met premiere on November 8, 2019—the third opera by Glass to be presented by the Met, following The Voyage and Satyagraha. Akhnaten will be heard live over Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 12:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, December 7.