• Philip Glass. Opera in three acts. 1984.
• Libretto by the composer, Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel and Richard Riddell.
• First performance at the Staatsoper, Stuttgart, on 24th March 1984.

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CHARACTERS

Akhnaten, King Amenhotep IV of Egypt	countertenor
Nefertiti, Akhnaten’s wife	contralto
Queen Tye, Akhnaten’s mother	soprano
Horemhab, general and future king	baritone
Aye, Nefertiti’s father, adviser to Akhnaten	bass
High Priest of Amon	tenor
Akhnaten’s six daughters	female voices
Funeral party of eight men	male voices
Tourist guide	speaking part

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Funeral rites of King Amenhotep III are celebrated, before the new King is crowned. The latter rejects the old god, Amon. In the temple of Amon the old gods are overthrown by Akhnaten, his mother and their followers. The Queen Mother, Queen Tye, takes a leading part in promoting the new religion and teaches her son a new poem to the sole god, Aten. Akhnaten teaches the poem to his wife. A new city is built, Akhetaten, and Akhnaten sings his hymn to the sun. The third act, 12 years later, introduces the family of Akhnaten and Nefertiti, their six daughters. The King will not listen to pleas for help from his ministers and generals and is deserted by all but two of his daughters. Akhnaten is overthrown and the god Amon is restored. In modern times the voice of a tourist guide is heard showing visitors the remains of Akhetaten. In an Epilogue the spirits of Akhnaten, Queen Tye and Nefertiti haunt the ruins of the city.

Akhnaten is the third of Philip Glass’s operas and makes use of American minimalist techniques in its hypnotic repetitions of musical cells. The text is in various languages, English, Egyptian and Hebrew, with Akhnaten’s hymn to the sun, Aten, in the language of the audience. The hypnotic effect of the score and the choice of subject have proved particularly effective in the theatre.