Kevin Pollard

Who’s up for a three-hour long opera about the relatively unknown pharaoh Akhnaten? With the singing in Egyptian, Hebrew and Akkadian? With no surtitles? Based on the music of minimalist composer Phillip Glass? And with an entire troupe of jugglers? Us, that's who.

This spring, the Phelim McDermott production of Philip Glass's Akhnaten returns to the London Coliseum for its second English National Opera (ENO) revival since its premiere in 2016.

One of the greatest successes of recent Met seasons is Philip Glass's AKHNATEN, first seen in 2019.I saw it three times that year and fell under its spell each time.It is being revived this season.

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It has taken 35 years for Philip Glass's AKHNATEN to get to the Met, since its premiere at the Staatsoper in Stuttgart in 1984. If you're an acolyte of Glass, Phelim McDermott's production, designed by Tom Pye, made it well worth the wait; if you're not, there's enough going on to keep you occupied during the 3 ½-hour performance.

The Metropolitan Opera presents the company premiere of Philip Glass's modern masterpiece Akhnaten on November 8, 2019, with performances continuing through December 7.

We thought things were exciting last week, when Christian Van Horn brought his Mefistofele to the Met last week, getting all his exercise for the month in the athletic staging and nailing his first big role in the house. However, that was “business as usual” compared to the mid-performance debut, just a few days later, of baritone Alexander Birch Elliott, as Zurga, in Bizet's LES PECHEURS DE PERLES (THE PEARL FISHERS) in the opera's first performance of the season.

On October 20, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented Philip Glass's SATYAGRAHA which tells of Mahatma Gandhi's early years in South Africa. SATYAGRAHA means truth, the real, the good combined with force or insistence. It is most often associated with Gandhi's nonviolent protests and resistance to racist laws. What he achieved by passive means was amazing at the time and remains a wonder today when racism is once again knocking on our doors.

Placido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, has announced final details about the company premiere of Satyagraha by Philip Glass.

On October 7, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented Georges Bizet's THE PEARL FISHERS starring sweet-voiced Mexican star tenor Javier Camarena as Nadir. Steel-voiced Mexican baritone Alfredo Daza, was Zurga, his rival for the hand of Leila, a beautiful priestess who had taken a vow of chastity.

General Director Pl cido Domingo has announced final details about LA Opera's company premiere of The Pearl Fishers, a rarely performed early work by Georges Bizet, the composer of Carmen. Mr. Domingo will conduct the first four performances of the opera (October 7, 15, 19 and 22), with the final two performances (October 25 and 28) conducted by Resident Conductor Grant Gershon. Performances will take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012).

Bass Gunther Groissbock will join the roster of artists appearing at the Met's 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center Gala on May 7. Rolando Villazon and Ferruccio Furlanetto have both withdrawn from the gala due to illness.

In addition to the previously announced artists appearing at the Met's 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center Gala on May 7, singers slated to appear include Stephanie Blythe, Joseph Calleja, Dwayne Croft, David Daniels, Yusif Eyvazov, Vittorio Grigolo, Christopher Job, Latonia Moore, Yunpeng Wang, and Dolora Zajick.

General Director Plácido Domingo has announced final casting information for LA Opera's new production of Akhnaten by Philip Glass. A co-production with English National Opera, Akhnaten is conducted by Artist in Residence Matthew Aucoin and staged by British director Phelim McDermott.  Check out a sneak peek below!

General Director Placido Domingo has announced final casting information for LA Opera's new production of Akhnaten by Philip Glass. A co-production with English National Opera, Akhnaten will be conducted by Artist in Residence Matthew Aucoin and staged by British director Phelim McDermott.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2016-17 season, the 50th anniversary of its home at Lincoln Center, will feature 225 opera performances of 26 operas in a varied repertory that ranges from 18th century masterpieces to one of the most acclaimed operas in recent years. Repertoire for the company's 132nd season will include the Met premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's 2000 opera L'Amour de Loin, as well as new stagings of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, Dvo?ak's Rusalka, and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. A gala concert on May 7, 2017 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company's Lincoln Center location with performances by opera's leading stars honoring the Met's past and future. Ticket prices will not increase, remaining the same as in the current season, and audience development programs instituted by the company in recent years will continue.  

One more BOHEME? Yet another TOSCA? How about BARBIERE redux? Sometimes the standard repertoire of opera companies seems too standard. That's why it was good to hear that the Met was mounting Bizet's LES PECHEURS DE PERLES for the first time in a century, as a showcase for one of its top divas, Diana Damrau with tenor Matthew Polenzani, one of the company's secret treasures.

A new production of Bizet's LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES (The Pearl Fishers), a rarity by the composer of Carmen that has not been seen at the Met in nearly a century, opens in a new production this New Year's Eve.

A new production of Bizet's LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES (The Pearl Fishers), a rarity by the composer of Carmen that has not been seen at the Met in nearly a century, opens in a new production this New Year's Eve.

Husband and wife performing artists Mat Fraser and Julie Atlas Muz draw parallels between their romance and de Beaumont's fairy tale.