Akhnaten

"This recording derives from the very successful Metropolitan Opera production in 2019 ... Glass set the eponymous role of Akhnaten for countertenor, sung here by Anthony Roth Costanzo. I will say at the outset that he is one of the very few countertenors I have encountered who can sing high notes with no sense of strain. In fact, he copes superbly with the cruel tessitura. I think that there is no weak member of the cast. The singing is uniformly excellent, and Anthony Roth Costano's is quite outstanding ... The chorus has a lot to do, and they are well balanced in relation to the orchestra. They sing in Egyptian and other ancient languages, and their words are not always clear, but the rhythmic, repetitive style of the minimalist music suits their chant-like texts".

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"Editor's choice: Akhnaten (1983) is the strongest of the composer's 'portrait' trilogy. It has the firmest narrative thread (for the often abstract world of Glass) of his operas ... Anthony Roth Costanzo is outstanding in the title-role ... His golden countertenor has a gleaming top ... and entwines seductively with J'Nai Bridges's luscious mezzo as Nefertiti ... Kamensek keeps the motors of the Met Orchestra whirring and chugging along, while the Met Opera Chorus is superb ... This is an outstanding document of an outstanding production".