by Eleanor Mannikka
synopsis
Not quite half of this documentary records two performances of Philip Glass's opera Akhnaton, in Stuttgart and in Houston. The rest of the film focuses on the research and writing of the opera and on the preparations for its production at each venue. Interviews with Glass (the composer for Scorcese's Kundun) show him to be informative and a bit of a curmudgeon. His sometimes ponderous musical style is not for everyone; as one conductor notes rather disparagingly, "the musicians are having a hard time staying awake."
