THENEWYORKER,NOVEMBER25, 2019 9
OPPOSITE: PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM POWELL/COURTESY LEHMANN MAUPIN; RIGHT: ILLUSTRATION BY LEONARDO SANTAMARIA
The Metropolitan Opera’s marvellous production of Philip Glass’s
“Akhnaten” (Nov. 19 and Nov. 23), from 1983—directed by Phelim
McDermott, conducted by Karen Kamensek, and decked in gold by the
costume designer Kevin Pollard—makes an opera about monotheism
in ancient Egypt positively riveting. Glass’s score, which eliminates the
violin section, feels mystical and incantatory thanks to the sensuality
of low strings, the plaintive air of woodwinds, and the glow of brass;
melodies unfurl like plumes of incense. In one scene, Akhnaten (the
brilliant countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo) storms the temple
where priests are practicing old polytheistic rituals, and his soldiers seize
their totems and begin to juggle them; like the sun he worships as the
supreme god, he pulls everything around him into his orbit. He and
his wife, Nefertiti (the voluptuously voiced J’Nai Bridges), reign briefly,
until a revolt topples their preciously constructed world.—Oussama Zahr
AT THEOPERA
1
CLASSICALMUSIC
Splinter Reeds
Uptown Underground
The bicoastal new-music series Permutations
hosts the New York début of Splinter Reeds,
a Bay Area reed quintet—a grouping, distinct
from the conventional woodwind quintet, that
integrates a saxophone and a bass clarinet for
a more closely related blend of instrumental
voices. The program includes works by Matthew
Shlomowitz and Sky Macklay from “Hypo-
thetical Islands,” the impressive album that the
group issued in March, plus additional pieces
by György Ligeti, Dai Fujikura, Eric Wubbels,
and others.—Steve Smith (Nov. 20 at 7.)
Conrad Tao
Weill Recital Hall
In addition to being a pianist of consummate
skill, Conrad Tao has emerged as a formidable
thinker who pursues provocative agendas,
as in the mix of socially conscious works on
his newly released album, “American Rage.”
This Carnegie Hall recital offers a similarly
intriguing combination of pieces, placing
canonical staples by Bach, Schumann, and
Rachmaninoff alongside contemporary works
of diverse styles by Elliott Carter, David Lang,
Julia Wolfe, and Jason Eckardt.—S.S. (Nov.
20 at 7:30.)
Recitals at the Y
92nd Street Y
Two adoptive New Yorkers bring solo piano
programs to the Upper East Side this week.
Alessio Bax’s is loosely Italian: a delicate
opener by Bach has its roots in a Marcello oboe
concerto, and a theme attributed to Corelli
mutates in a set of slinky, swoony, salty varia-
tions by Rachmaninoff. Two days later, liter-
ary transformations provide the narrative for
Benjamin Hochman’s recital, which includes
Chopin’s dreamy Ballade No. 4, Schumann’s
Hoffman-derived “Kreisleriana,” and pieces by
Brahms and Thomas Adès.—Fergus McIntosh
(Nov. 20 at 7:30; Nov. 22 at 8.)
“Let ’Em Eat Cake”
Carnegie Hall
Gershwin’s 1933 musical “Let ’Em Eat Cake”
is a political satire in which the President, in-
spired by Fascism’s rise in Europe, decides to
overthrow the government rather than accept
defeat in his reëlection campaign. Conventional
wisdom says that the work, with its almost
nihilistic sense of humor and guillotine plot
twist, failed to connect with Depression-era
audiences craving escapism; that may be, but
a musical comedy that spoofs the solipsism
of an American President who has his own
clothing line and a predilection for dictator-
ship can provide escapism in a different con-
text. Ted Sperling conducts the Orchestra of
St. Luke’s, the MasterVoices chorus, and a cast
led by Bryce Pinkham (“A Gentleman’s Guide
to Love and Murder”) in a concert staging of
Gershwin’s ambitious, driving work.—Oussama
Zahr (Nov. 21 at 7.)
“Processing”
National Sawdust
“Sorrow concealed, like an oven sealed, burns
the heart to cinders.” So sings Lucy Dhegrae
in Osnat Netzer’s “Philomelos,” a new piece
Dhegrae performs this week at National Saw-
dust. In Shakespeare’s bloody “Titus Andro-
nicus,” the sentiment is addressed to a woman
who has been raped and mutilated. Here—
undergirded by a violin, sand-filled drums,
and pulsing, mewling electronics—the lyrics
inaugurate Dhegrae’s “Processing Series,”
which features works that touch on trauma
recovery. This installment also includes “Her
Disappearance,” a sirening song for voice and
PVC piping, by Bethany Younge, and Maria
Stankova’s sore-to-the-touch flute and soprano
duet “Rapana.”—F.M. (Nov. 23 at 7.)
Los Angeles Philharmonic
David Geffen Hall
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the nation’s
most buzzed-about orchestra, returns to Lin-
coln Center with a pair of inviting concerts.
For the first, which is part of the White Light
Festival, Gustavo Dudamel conducts Bruck-
ner’s Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”)—just
two days after Yannick Nézet-Séguin offers
the same piece with his Orchestre Métropol-
itain de Montréal at Carnegie Hall, for those
inclined to compare and contrast. Dudamel
turns up the heat considerably for his sec-
ond program, accompanying the pianist Yuja
Wang in a new piece by John Adams, “Must
the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?,” which
is positioned between vivacious works by Gi-
nastera and Stravinsky.—S.S. (Nov. 24 at 3
and Nov. 25 at 8.)
Magdalena Kožená
Alice Tully Hall
The Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená
has always had a unique voice—sinewy, flick-
ering, sensitive—and on her most recent
album, “Soirée,” its mercurial qualities are
matched by the timbres of a seven-piece cham-
ber ensemble, which includes her husband, the
conductor Simon Rattle, at the piano. Accom-
panied by many of the same players, she comes
to Alice Tully Hall with the album’s program,
including Chausson’s glimmering “Chanson
Perpétuelle,” Shakespeare-inspired works by
Stravinsky and Brahms, and Dvořák’s “Gypsy
Songs,” the latter of which has become a sig-
nature set of hers.—O.Z. (Nov. 26 at 7:30.)
