Editorial note: the composer uses the spelling Akhnaten, while the more conventional variant is Akhenaten, and the variant used in the Wikipedia is Akhenaton. Given the nature of Egyptian hieroglyphics, the absence of a vowel isn't terribly important. In this article the first version refers to the opera and the second to the pharaoh.
The music, contrary to the critics of the minimalist school of music, is powerful, emotional and extremely moving. The tragedy of Akhenaten's life and times is always present, if only in the background and every musical phrase is imbued with an aura of antiquity[?].
The text, taken from original sources, is given in the original languages, linked together with the commentary of a narrator in a modern language, such as English or German. Egyptian texts of the period are taken from a poem of Akhenaten, the Egyptian Book of the Dead[?], and extracts of decrees and letters from the Amarna period. Other portions are in Akkadian and Biblical Hebrew.
The opera is divided into three acts:
Act I: Year 1 of Akhnaten's Reign in Thebes
Act II: Years 5 to 15 in Thebes
Act III: Year 17 and the Present
The work is an overwhelming piece of opera-craft that transports the receptive listener to ancient Egypt. It can fill him/her with a Zeitgeist which will mourn the passing of the world's first monotheist.
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