Akhnaten - Hymn
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- čas přidán 28. 02. 2013
- My favorite piece from this opera, mainly for the music but also for the way it links Akhnaten's "Hymn to the Aten" to the Hebrew Bible.
Most of this is in English, unlike many of the other songs in the opera.
For the Psalm 104 sections at the end I added the Hebrew lyrics from Philip Glass's web site (www.glasspages.org/akhnaten.ht.... Hopefully it is matching what is being sung; I was using this translation as a reference: www.qbible.com/hebrew-old-test...
Akhnaten: Nicholas Tamagna
All rights belong to the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. - Hudba
In case anyone hasn't caught this -- you're not watching the Met or any of the world's other major professional opera companies here. This is Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music production.
Lest anyone doubt the titanic level of demand this school has been operating on, in all musical departments, for many decades now. 😳😳😳
And the hymn sounds way better than the Met version. Thanks for telling us, I was really wondering, why this version is so light, delicate , careful and so perfect.
best version I’ve heard thus far, by far
IU's first mistake was selecting this brainless opera. It's so vacuous. How can the players move so slowly and without objective? How can the characters hold their poses for sometimes 20 minutes at a time? This is opera, not yoga. They must be exhausted. Nothing happens in this opera. There's almost no action in it at all. Almost no dialogue, no depth. It's like they've all been dipped in Thorasine and are having trouble moving. Characters don't do anything in it other than bow, pray, assemble, disassemble and talk to the sun. Operas have dramatic action. Operas have strong emotion. Operas have changing stage pictures, humor, high stakes and characters with objectives and that act like human beings.
Historically, Akhnaten was the first to implement monotheism in Egypt, ruffling feathers. Where is that dramatized? Where's the public outcry in the story here? The near anarchy he caused closing churches and removing statuary? Ask any Egyptologist, Akhnaten contrived a two-sex self-image, along with half-animal representations. Why? Can we hear him at least mention this in the opera? Do we want to at least see maybe a glimpse of him scripting his public image, which he did, historically? Ordering how his statues would look? No, of course not, that would be interesting and complex. Do we want to see him have sex with his daughters and ignore his son King Tut, which he did according to archeologists and historical accounts? No, that would be salacious and interesting to watch. Can't we see the embarrassment of King Tut and the stress of a father (Akhnaten) who was making massive changes in Egyptian theism? No, that would be interesting. Can't we see any of Amenhotep's public versus private persona as he tried to manipulate public opinion? This opera is vacuous, posing and empty-headed. There's no depth here. The characters don't say anything. The emperor has no clothes.
@@jesuspectre9883 I'd watch that movie. I agree that this "opera" is not very interesting
@@jesuspectre9883 heretic
So wonderfully weird! You feel like you're tripping or something. It absolutely transports you to a very different time and place and make you think about people who were very, very different from the people you see in your everyday life- and forces you to question many contemporary cultural assumptions and understandings, and really try to understand what people of THAT time and place must have been thinking, feeling and believing. It forces you to stretch your mind and imagination and see how very differently the world CAN be seen and experienced. And you know what they say: ""The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions." (Emerson)
Beautifully expressed. You put in words emotions I am totally not able to express.
Thank you!
It's Glass. ;)
Still one of my favorite Philip Glass works. That countertenor, Tamagna, is terrific.
I LOVE that opening bassoon line. Genius!
What a voice!
Mesmerizing. Singing, acting, staging, music, all flows into one glory. Thank you!
A voice that gives "chills".
What a wonderful musical composition and what a setting. Fabulously impressive
Watching this as I can't afford to see the revival at English National Opera, but saw the original 30 years ago. One of the greatest works in modern music, and the Hymn is truly inspired - has so many resonances for world religions today.
I was lucky enough to go on Tuesday. I'm fairly new (10 years or so) to opera and have seen a lot of the popular repertoire but the ENO production was absolutely spectacular - and I was blown away - please take out a loan and get along if you can - you won't regret it!!!
+Peter Bennett like you, this was an experience I will never forget. totally enthralled from start to finish.
+Peter Bennett I was there that night as well, we got tickets for £15 by booking early. Great performance though all the juggling became tiresome for me.
+Alan Page That's a shame. I thought the juggling was amazing. I hope it didn't spoil it too much for you though. :-)
I was very lucky to see the ENO version 30years ago - and when I saw it was at the ENO again a couple of years ago I made sure I was there. A different production - somewhat strange and distracting from some stunning music and a fascinating "story". Nicholas Tamagna is better than either of the 2 London counter-tenors and much prefer the stripped down and relevant staging. Wish I'd been over at the Brennan Hall production but Indiana is one hell of a flight from London! I hope that the University has this performance recorded - I'd pay $100s to see it!
Indiana University! I looked this up after seeing tonight the Metropolitan Opera production from 2019, onscreen at a cinema, and IU's orchestra wins here. They succeeded in finding the life and breath and the contour of Glass's score for this scene, to my ear far better then the Met orchestra I heard earlier.
Every rosicrucian student be grateful by this work. Amazing! Thanks so much.
Thanks for the laugh.
Thanks for posting this. I've been a fan of the opera for a long time, but have never seen it staged. This is beautiful.
I was lucky to see the ENO production I think in 2017 before it transferred to the Met. Tickets were about £15 and it was a spectacular production. It felt like a crossover between opera and prog rock. The NY Met now has a DVD available.
The music is great, but I really disiked this production. The 'Egyptians'were ridiculously over-dressed for the Egyptian heat, and every scene change produced a juggler who had nothing to do with the action, and just waited for him to appear.We were lucky enough to see the first ENO production- at the beginning of the second act they built a city from sand on the stage, and the Nile ran through behind.
GLASS sait toujours choisir et faire chanter les belles voix ! ! ! quelle belle mélodie !
It's my favorite piece, too, from my favorite Philip Glass opera. There aren't many pieces that bring tears to my eyes (in this case, from the sheer beauty of the words and music) every time I hear them, but this is one.
I saw this in March this year at the ENO this is the third time I first saw it at the ENO in the 1980's and I bought the CD then This has always been my favourite piece from the Opera and I love it now as much as I loved it when I first saw it.
Me too
this performance is unforgettable, a masterpiece
I'll be seeing this opera in L.A. in November. Saw the costumes yesterday in the opera house lobby. Looked amazing!
I want to go back in time to 1984-1987, and ask my voice teacher, Earl Coleman, at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to let me sing this an octave down as a lyric baritone, as my signature song. I wonder what he would have said. This song speaks to my soul, on so many levels. I'll sing it an octave down for the rest of my life as a lyric baritone, all the while secretly wishing I could be a countertenor. ;)
An octave down is a very interesting idea!
I'm a second tenor who's sung lyric baritone rôles (the Bos'n in HMS Pinafore and Pish-Tush in Mikado) but I'll gladly impersonate a countertenor to learn to sing this piece.
Had the honour to see the Opera in 2 different productions at the London Coliseum. The latter is bigger and more dramatic but this movement is so utterly beautiful in this production. Wish I'd been here too.
Saw the NEO production. Mesmerizing! The whole thing done in slow motion.Made it seem like we were witnessing an ancient world brought back to life.
bellissima aria un capolavoro. Bravo Tamagna conplimenti.
Bravo Glass
Bravo Tamagna
Mette la pelle d'oca tanto è bella .
Wonderfull!!!!!!!
Such a beautiful voice and music! I haven’t listened to opera as much lately, but this is truly sublime.
This is just the best thing. Who would thumbs-down this? Millions of thumbs ups to you all!
and what an orchestra! Best I've heard this played (and I saw the ENO one)
I remember reading the hymn to the Aten as teenager. This music though, is so strange, it nearly put me to sleep. It is a beautiful, powerful poem from one of the great souls of humanity.
Great souls? Megalomaniac control freak, more like.
Saw this production at the Coliseum with Martin Weitz after we had worked on a documentary on the Pharoahs ( Akhenaten) Holy Treasure. We were both knocked out- sublime.
I am not an opera taster, but definitively Glass, for sure.
Passing glorious what a beautiful sound this counter tenor makes…
Thanks so much for uploading it, greatly appreciated, give us an idea of the superb production.
lucky enough to have seen the ENO production last week. an absolute masterpiece.
+Roger Cole Totally agee. Fabulous production - staging, lighting, costumes and perfect rendition.
Me too - my favourite opera by far. Totally mesmerising & 100% immersed all the way through. The Hymn to the Sun staging was particularly brilliant (no disrespect but far better than in this clip)
The countertenor is awesome.
The text is translated to English from the Great Hymn to the Aten, attributed to Akhnaten (I added a link in the description). The Great Hymn to the Aten has similarities to Psalm 104, which is suggested at the end of the song when the chorus sings Psalm 104 in Hebrew.
The assertion to similarities to Pslalms is not credible to academics. See:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hymn_to_the_Aten
Quite interesting.
@@forresterickson6225 Never believe what is written in Wikipedia
@@paulmason2036 keep trying for your opportunity to be published and then referred to at Wikipedia. Till then I will go with the idea referenced their by Dr. Redford.
@@forresterickson6225 Meh...
I much rather go with Carl Jung's concept of a collective unconscious, one that is shared by all. You will find certain "motifs" (if you will) and archetypes in comparative mythology, even in world mythologies that are separated by great distances (both time-wise and geographically.)
So, what does that mean? Are the Hymm and Psalms 104 connected, or are they not?
Who the hell knows, it's a mystery. Even the hypothesis of academics and scholars (either for or against it) are speculative at best, and are to be taken with a grain of salt.
However, to simply brush it all off as a "simple coincidence" feels rather shallow and unimaginative, the product of "pure rationalism," one unconnected with the spiritual (i.e. that which lies beyond human comprehension.)
Guy is awesome, right mix of femininity and masculinity.
I wouldn't have believed that such a musical ever took place, have i not seen this video.
Opera not musical
Beautiful set. Beautiful voice.
Such a pure beautiful music...spiritual ....i am so happy to have found it...will look for more.
Absolutely fantastic! I am in aaawwww !!! I'm crying wright now, OMG so beautiful, thank you, thank you
Heard it on classical radio today. Wish I could see it. Looking forward to a Blu-ray from the Met, or PBS.
Paul Esswood is absolutely unbeatable! Even today so many years after that premiere!!!
This is not Esswood as far as I understand.
A wonderful performance!
I wish some of the libretto had been in the Coptic language of Egypt, the language of Egyptian Christian liturgy. This would have been especially appropriate for the parts of the opera referring to the influence of Akhnaten's beliefs on Abrahamic religions. Instead, the creators of the opera used languages not indigenous to the country for this purpose. In doing so, they chose not to honor Egyptian Christians by giving them a voice.
Student performance. Outstanding. Singing in the Coptic language would involve pulling in resources for translation, language coaching etc. To what end? The audience would understand far less. Ultimately a worthy aim but leave that for a major opera company or specialist group
with a focus on language and culture
@@frogmouth Also, this is an Opera. Mozart wrote Marriage of Figaro in Italian even though the setting is in France. Carmen is set in Spain but the opera is in French. Philip Glass speaks English, that's why his opera are in English.
By the way, Glass originally intended all parts in English to be performed in the language of the listener according to the original liner notes. But I guess there was no good translation of the hymn, so even the Stuttgart performance was in English (+ Accadian+Egyptian)
I do wonder how many Christians there actually were in the 14th century BC, (anywhere), nor how many ancient Egyptians spoke Coptic Egyptian since it did not develop until the 3rd century AD.
Currently
Living for this
Thank you for posting this. I love it.
I saw the recent production at the Met and it was phenomenal. The hands coming down is a bit spooky.
Bellísima, Exquisita, Gracias por compartir
A masterpiece
Do you know where can I find the full performance? It's absolutely wonderful.
I discovered this opera saturday live from The Met, in a movie theater in France, and I fell in love.
I saw it on Saturday in a theatre (u.s.) as well. It was excellent
It was from here: web.archive.org/web/20140529013245/music.indiana.edu/iumusiclive/streaming/?ondemand=playlists/2012-13_season/20130302_Akhnaten.smil=20130302_Akhnaten
This streaming on-demand display has been terminated as the copyright license the Jacobs School of Music had allowed it online only for a brief period.
I assume the uploader has had a full version of the performance. It never went on DVD. You might sent an inquiring e-mail to the address linked at the bottom of the page: audio@indiana.edu
Likely it will be available on disc from the Met's website once it can be edited and produced. It's not there as of today, and not on Glass' website, but I imagine it will be available.
@@Samplesurfer I emailed them, here is their answer :
Dear Fabien-
Thanks for your kind words about our production of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten.
Akhnaten was performed by the IU Opera Theater in Spring of 2013. We paid to license live and on-demand streaming of our performances for a limited time. Unfortunately our license has expired. Those CZcams clips actually are in violation of our license with Philip Glass’ publisher. I don’t know who the person is who posted them or how he came to have a copy of that recording.
Unfortunately our recordings of those performances are no longer publicly available due to licensing restrictions. Sorry.
Sorry we can’t be of more help.
Sincerely,
This spring, I went to a theater to see the Met performance. I did not enjoy watching all the jugglers and had no idea what they represented. There are better versions of this opera.
A nyc taxi driver said to me:
"The Sun is our only true God.
Why should we keep kneeling to the traitor who did nothing to prevent the Coronavirus?"
That was a long ride.
And then the sun set. ☹️ What a disapointing god.
People think that 'god' is like a good parent who is supposed to have their best interests at heart.
News Flash: God is more like a policeman who has told us what we must do and stands back when we suffer the consequences of our mis-actions.
@@renzo6490 I think its a little deeper than that. He is a parent who has our best interest at heart, loves us but love does not always mean allowing your children to disrespect you and run amuck. His ways are meant to shield us from harm, not cause it, but we do what we want. He turns all things for good though.
@@dropDeadLoveli -
We see god differently.
''The tornado bore down on the village but my life was spared.
God must have been watching over me !''
The god that 'spared your life' was the same god that caused the tornado!
But people want to think that god is benevolent and protective.
How convenient it is to have such a god around.
But it is a narrow idea of god and one that is a fantasy of our needs.
If there is a god that watches over and protects us, was it not the same god that caused the misfortune, the injustice, the virus ? ?
'God', like Nature would watch unmoved if we destroyed the entire Human race.
'God', like nature is indifferent to our desires.
We don't realize this.
That is why we wonder, "How can God allow bad things to happen to innocent people?"
It is because 'god' does not share our values.
Perhaps we might do well to rethink our concept of god.
Anyone who works for tips should learn to keep such opinions to himself.
to all the haters.......we get it, you don't like Phillip Glass or other minimalist composers.......their talent shouldn't be ridiculed or dismissed simply because you don't like the piece.........
かっこいいです！！
Absolutely exquisite!
Yes the lead role is primarily sung in falsetto.
That's-a funny; my last pupil she had-a false set-a teeth
Not falsetto, he is a countertenor.
Never mind, Let me answer my own question:
Akhnaten sings an English translation of an Egyptian text, the chorus sings some lines from Hebrew bible, specifically, Psalm 104.
Thanks again!
I love Akhenaton for sure is so different I love that
The composer as the new highpriest, great!
There are NO DVDs of Akhnaten available online for sale, no full videos available anywhere online either. There was one from Indiana University that I watched a few years ago, but it's now taken down. There's no full video of it on CZcams or Vimeo or anywhere else I've checked. Even checking WorldCat world-wide library catalogue only shows one DVD available at Phillips Library in Maryland.
Are there any trance or psytrance remixes of this yet?
Oh Jehová, que naces en el horizonte. Siempre y por los siglos serás el Rey.
Beautifully done. Bravi.
high art pure gold
absolutely wonderfull! One of the best of P.G. despite sounding somewhat Bach.
+Renato César Ferreira de Souza That's because it is actually a chaconne form of sorts, much like Bach wrote for many pieces. The intention by PG was for it to have a baroque type sound, especially I suppose since it is a countertenor part. :)
this anger lacks confidence compared to Anthony Roth Costanzo. Seen it in London in March and streamed from the Met last week. So beautiful!!!!
Saw Anthony Roth Costanzo live at the Met on November 19. He has enormous charisma, and overcame the Met production's performance challenges (not falling off those stairs, for one!). But I like this singer's voice as well, if not better, and thought he was fine in this different production. And yes, the opera is beautiful.
So fantastic!!!!!
Has anyone remarked the incredible similarity between this "Hymn" and the "Four Note Pavan-Hear Me O God" by Alfonso Ferrabosco, the younger (1575-1628)?
The singer is in the description (Nicholas Tamagna).
That change of tone at 6:27
A mi también me gusta
Exquisite.
majestic
My favorite too 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Oh, glory..!
Как хорошо, что театральные постановки показывают в кино.
Fabulous
Excellent. Hail to Old IU!
Let me add my voice to the chorus of praise.
But, if I had a choice, I would not have projected scenes from the Old Testament at the end..
This is a translation of what the chorus is singing.
@@georgetrauth4590 - well, I look at the section10 min 30 sec to 12 min 30 sec and I can't connect the visual images to the words .
''It is night wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth'' ...but I see what looks like Moses standing on a rock addressing the Hebrews.
" Thou makest darkness and there is night"...I see two men holding up the arms of an older seated man.
I don't see the connection or the meaning between what is being sung and what is being projected.
Renzo those parts are from Psalm 104
Neither would I. It makes no sense but I loved the work though.
starry hand(not knee)-plays!
WHERE CAN I GET THIS ENTIRE OPERA?! I visuals!!! I have LOVED the music since I was a child !!!!
music.indiana.edu/iumusiclive/streaming/?ondemand=playlists/2012-13_season/20130223_Akhnaten.smil=20130223_Akhnaten
@@richardprins thanks for sharing, unfortunately is not possible to watch it.
I think I prefer this version to the much more ornate ENO producton and although I love Anthony R.C in this role, Tamagna actually has the superior voice. It really is unearthly and with such an amazing clarity and depth.
Glorious ❤❤❤
Glass read his Freud it seems.
it is more interesting visually than musically
Where can I find the complete opera please?
This is beautiful but the only thing I could think the whole time was how worried I would be to have to wear that long drapery while desperately trying not to eat shit on those stairs
Well, in harem these girls were taught by elders about the right manner to walk with it on, among many things. I am sure they'd be as puzzled if they saw a nowaday woman walk with high heels =s
me too
Our National Opera company prefers musicals. Lyndan Terracini is the the emperor with no clothes. Need to go to Brisbane or Adelaide to see opera now.
Damn! Sorry to hear that.
The weird thing is it is paraphrased in Psalm 104 and yet no-one could read hieroglyphs at the time the Bible was written. Can anyone explain.
Plus oral transmission of religious and epic poetry was the main vehicle in mostly non-literate lands -- From what I recollect, that's how the Iliad and Odyssey and lots of the Old Testament were created and survived until eventually written down...
the subtitles were on the screen with the projections--
Is there anywhere I could buy the full video?
Has anybody got a spare hanky?
Thanks! :-)
Vive l'Aton 🌞
Who staged this? Is it the same as in London and the Met?
I guess not, is a different producer. Check the current trailer.
Recommend the recent production by the Metropolitan Opera.
Shades of the Baroque anyone? And Pop music too! Of course!
Yes, contemporary opera seria, I thought...
I can hear shades of Monteverdi in parts of this aria.
@@MartinRosol Fascinating isn't it? ☺
Mistyped there. Please indicate singer for this aria and your other uploads
dear mary,
that is completely the truth. he, they spoke about one (new?) god. but they were able to go away, to build a new capitol. in achetaton, die stadt des aton. they had a lot of fights to stand. they stood it. instead of all that old thoughts. they brought us into nowadays.
Amen
... learned who was ANDY WARHOL thru DAVID BOWIE .... learned who was AKHNATEN thru Philip Glass ... learned who was BIKO thru Peter Gabriel .... learned who was Henry VIII thru Rick Wakeman .... those were the days when musicians did wrote serious matters .....
Was this written for a counter-tenor?
Yes
Where can we buy the full version? I've always been interested in Ancient Egypt dynasties, Glass produces the only type of classical music I listen to. I'd watch this over and over again.
Akhenaten the Heretic have always interested me. I wish more of his vision on Aten and the sun disc were uncovered so that we could understand the theology behind it.
Please indicate singer for Thai
All that sun worship and not a semblance of a tan.
Is it that Akhnaten was almost there, as he was truly wanting to replace religion with science of mind? Is it not that the Aten is the word used to refer to the atom? Oh, men eh! who~ra! Who was the papa then?
Diomedes Díaz maestre
Why is it spelled like that without the e? Or why is spelled with an e everywhere else? When humanity has a certain syntax why do we go and change it every two seconds.
Because nobody knows where most of the vowels in ancient Egyptian would have been because the hieroglyphs tend to just represent consonants. So vowels get put in artificially so the words can be pronounced. But there is not an absolute agreed consistency on how this is done.
⁉️🎵🎵🎵💓