A decade ago, Costanzo had surgery that threatened to destroy his singing voice. Now he stars as a gender-fluid Egyptian pharaoh in the Met Opera’s production of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten. He’s a countertenor, meaning he sings in a high range that’s associated with women’s voices. He knows all about the history of countertenors and their predecessors, castrati.
Justin Chang reviews the new film Memoria, starring Tilda Swinton, which he calls a “sonic detective story.”