Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris (Wikipedia)
- Philip Glass. Einstein on the Beach (1976). Philip Glass / Robert Wilson. Théâtre du Châtelet 2014. This is the video stream from this week's performance in France.
Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris (Wikipedia)
January 12, 2014 in aworks listening log, glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Via Tyler Cowen, I'd pay to see this:
April 26, 2013 in glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
From watching Einstein on the Beach:
One can’t really figure out much about Einstein or his works except that perhaps he loved trains and paper planes, he played the violin, and his works has something to do with nuclear bomb.
March 17, 2013 in glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I made it to the opera in Berkeley tonight. I was impressed how the composer sympathetically conveys the experience of the President as he majestically gets off a long plane ride from the US to China. Oh wait, that's the other canonical late 20th Century American opera.
Ok, back to Einstein on the Beach. I can't decide if it was crazy, crazy good, or the whole experience was just a dream. Probably all three. Seeing is believing, in this case.
While the opera conveys next to nothing about Albert Einstein, it's definitiely a consciousness revolution take on the first half of the 20th Century. With hindsight, 1900-1950 should be classified as crazy. So those 1930s-born creatives, Philip Glass, Robert Wilson, and Lucinda Childs, filtered that modern atomic era through a 60s/70s aesthetic. Call it a "double crazy."
I look forward to a future production, by younger artists, to see if the work can escape its creative context.
Doctor Atomic, by John Adams, in a way, covers the same subject, except that Adams is a baby boomer rather than from the Silent Generation (e.g. Colin Powell, Walter Mondale, Woody Allen, Martin Luther King, Jr., ElizabethTaylor, Elvis Presley as well as Glass/Wilson/Childs). That Adams opera probably won't be a canonic work, despite some early enthusiasm on my part.
Einstein's 4.5 hours was long but it was like a plane ride in that after a couple hours, the momentum started to accumulate and before I knew it, we were on our final, crazy, descent. Similarly, I didn't feel like climbing over my seat mates given the opera had no formal intermission (for a 4.5 hour production!).
In general, the flight/opera was smooth although I found it hard to hear, in the balcony anyway, the charming and perplexing text at the beginning and end e.g.:
It could be a balloon. It could be Frankie. It could be very fresh and clean. All these are the days, my friends, and these are the days, my friends.
Plot spoiler here.
And the work, although dramatic, didn't have the live physical impact of say, Music in Twelve Parts and Koyaanisqatsi. Still, a memorable show.
Personal note: after choosing family over art last night, I had to choose art over sports tonight. I missed the entire Giants World Series game since the start times of the opera and the game were, for some reason, synchronized.
Although I closely follow the San Francisco Giants, I was a boyhood fan of the Detroit Tigers and I may ultimately regret saying this, but I hope the Tigers win on Sunday. The spouse and I are going to the matinee of Einstein on the Beach tomorrow afternoon so a loss would let me watch what could be the final game on Monday.
Go Giants (sooner or later) and go Philip Glass...
October 27, 2012 in glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
I've waited two years since the announcement to see Einstein on the Beach tonight in Berkeley. To prepare, I spent much of the summer listening over and over and over to the (now) three recordings.
Alas, today, instead, I helped an elderly loved one move from assisted living to a memory care residence. No regrets...
October 26, 2012 in glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Anthony Tommasini reviews Einstein on the Beach, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music:
...exhilarating revival...compelling lead performers...nonsensical yet alluring text...calming and sweetly mystical...exuberant and crazed... suited to current musical politics and social culture...the brilliant violinist Jennifer Koh...original, visionary and generous work...moments of ominous intensity...two trial scenes are highlights...dazzling choreography... if it were trimmed...
September 16, 2012 in glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 09, 2012 in glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Einstein? (andreas_fischler)
Instructions to improve your experience at all 4.5 hours of Einstein on the Beach:
Act One opens with Train (23 minutes). Train sets the tone and pace of the show, as well as introduces the first musical theme. You’ll have a better idea after watching this scene of how your patience for EINSTEIN will hold up.
September 05, 2012 in glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Cover of Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach
Interesting notes from John Rockwell's NY Times piece about Einstein on the Beach:
August 31, 2012 in glass, philip :: einstein on the beach | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)