 |
Carnegie Hall News
Back to Press Release List > 11/08/2007 - Philip Glass – Einstein in Concert, 12/6/07
CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS MUSIC FROM PHILIP GLASS’S LANDMARK OPERA,
EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH, ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6 AT 8:00 P.M.
Concert Marks the First Live Performance of Music from
the Opera by the Composer and the Philip Glass Ensemble in 15 Years
For the first time in 15 years, legendary composer Philip Glass and his Philip Glass Ensemble give a live performance of music from Einstein on the Beach on Thursday, December 6 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Conducted by Michael Riesman, the performance also features violinist Timothy Fain, spoken word by Lucinda Childs, and a chorus. This concert, which is part of Nonesuch at Carnegie, is produced for Carnegie Hall by Pomegranate Arts.
Created with theater visionary Robert Wilson, Einstein on the Beach is the first in Philip Glass’s trilogy of operas about men who changed the world through the power of their ideas. The work—which received its world premiere on July 25, 1976 by the Philip Glass Ensemble at the Festival d'Avignon—broke all the traditional rules of opera. Non-narrative in form with text consisting of numbers, solfege syllables, and poems, Einstein on the Beach presents a poetic look at the life and legacy of Albert Einstein. When performed in its entirety, the opera exceeds four hours without intermission. This concert version of Einstein includes all of the scenes from the opera, performed here at reduced length (with the exception of Knee Plays II, III, and IV, and the Cadenza, which are uncut). The performance will last three hours, including an intermission.
Earlier this year, Philip Glass marked his 70th birthday with the premiere of several new works, including Appomattox at the San Francisco Opera and the Book of Longing at the Luminato Festival in Toronto, Ontario. Through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his own ensemble, and his wide-ranging collaborations with artists ranging from Twyla Tharp to Allen Ginsberg, Woody Allen to David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical and intellectual life of his times. Born in 1937 and raised in Baltimore, Glass studied at the University of Chicago, the Juilliard School, and in Aspen with Darius Milhaud. Finding himself dissatisfied with much of what then passed for modern music, he moved to Europe, where he studied with the legendary pedagogue Nadia Boulanger and worked closely with the sitar virtuoso and composer Ravi Shankar. Glass returned to New York in 1967 and formed the Philip Glass Ensemble—seven musicians who performed on keyboards and a variety of woodwinds, amplified and fed through a mixer.
In the past 25 years, Glass has composed more than twenty operas, large and small; eight symphonies; two piano concertos; and concertos for violin, piano, timpani, and saxophone quartet and orchestra; film soundtracks, including The Hours and Notes on a Scandal; string quartets; and an extensive body of work for solo piano and organ. He has collaborated with Paul Simon, Martin Scorsese, Yo-Yo Ma, and Doris Lessing, among many others. He presents lectures, workshops, and solo keyboard performances around the world, and continues to appear regularly with the Philip Glass Ensemble.
Nonesuch Records has been home to original and adventurous performers and composers for nearly four decades. Its roster of artists spans the genres of world music, contemporary music, classical, jazz, musical theater, and alternative pop. This season, Nonesuch at Carnegie also features John Adams, Kronos Quartet, SFJAZZ Collective, Laurie Anderson, and Steve Reich.
Program Information
Thursday, December 6 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
PHILIP GLASS: EINSTEIN IN CONCERT
Philip Glass & the Philip Glass Ensemble
Timothy Fain, Violin
Michael Riesman, Music Director
Lucinda Childs, Spoken Word
MUSIC FROM EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH
Nonesuch at Carnegie
Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
|
Ticket Information
Tickets, priced at $19, $23, $31, $44, $58, and $64, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street. Tickets may also be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or online by visiting
www.carnegiehall.org
.
In addition, for all Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of partial-view seats, priced at $10, will be available beginning at noon on the day of the concert. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.
A limited number of student/senior citizen discount tickets, priced at $10, may also be available for some Carnegie Hall events. They are on sale at the Box Office beginning at noon until 1 hour before concert time. Student/senior discount tickets for some Weill Recital Hall events are available at the Box Office one hour before the performance. Please call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 for ticket availability.
|
| |