Glass Notes

No Reservations Review

Soundtrack.net reviewed the No Reservations soundtrack.

Appomattox Coverage, San Fran, Part 9

Here is a flurry of pieces on the upcoming premiere of Appomattox:

New York Times
San Francisco Chronicle
Inside Bay Area
San Jose Mercury News
SF Station

And Jose Brought this Scott Hicks video on youtube to our attention in which the director discusses his new documentary: Glass, A Portrait of Philip in 12 Parts.

Speaking of 12 Parts, Part 9 has gone live on iTunes

Happy Birthday Leonard Cohen!

Glass Notes wishes Leonard Cohen a Happy Birthday et Bon Anniversaire!

Einstein on the Beach in 2009?

The New York Sun today reported in their interview with incoming General Manager of the New York City Opera Gérard Mortier, that : "The 2009-2010 season — which will be Mr. Mortier's first fully in residence, since for the next two years he is finishing his tenure as director of the Paris National Opera — will be devoted to 20th-century works. It will open, as he has said before, with Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress," and will include two other icons of American opera: Philip Glass's "Einstein on the Beach," which hasn't been seen in New York since 1976, when it had only two performances at the Metropolitan Opera House..."

Of course this last part is inaccurate as Einstein on the Beach was revived at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1984 and again in 1992.  All said, it is long overdue for a full revival.  In the meantime of course we have the Carnegie Hall concert in December of "Music from Einstein on the Beach" by Philip Glass and The Philip Glass Ensemble.  There was previous rumor that NYCO would be mounting the NY premiere of Waiting for the Barbarians (who knows, maybe that will happen to at some point?), but no one is going to argue with an Einstein revival (save maybe its (still) living detractors).  Satyagraha of course is headed to the Met in the Spring of 2008....is some theater not obligated to complete the trilogy in 2010?  Alas, Akhnaten hasn't been seen in New York since 1985 at the same NYC Opera which will be doing Einstein in 2009.

On page 3 of the article it also states that Philip Glass will be writing a new opera for City Opera. We have three more weeks till his latest work is unveiled.

Reuters Review of Glass Documentary

Reuters today

Voor 11 September, Symphony No.5

Here is a quite touching video titled "Philip Glass "Voor 11 September" which appeared today on youtube.  Philip Glass performs the coda from Mad Rush.

"One of the great gifts of Buddhism is to help us understand what the function of art is in the world we live in.  Which is a big question...." - Philip Glass

Matt brought to my attention a second video continues the theme of re-examination of the wisdom traditions of the world in the form of Symphony No. 5  - Movement XI "Paradise", Movement XII "Dedication" and a reflection on the state of the world at the year 2000. 

Dennis Russell Davies & Maki Namekawa

During the run of Appomattox performances in San Francisco,as part of the Other Minds Festival, renowned conductor and pianist Dennis Russell Davies will be joined by partner Maki Namekawa in a special recital of works for two pianos by Philip Glass and J. S. Bach (transcriptions by György Kurtág). The concert, a benefit for the Bay Area's leading new music organization, Other Minds, will also feature the U.S. Premieres of works by Balduin Sulzer (Austria) and Chen Yi (China/US), and a recent work by San Francisco composer Adam Fong. The pianists, along with Glass, Chen and Fong, will share their thoughts about the music in a pre-concert discussion hosted by Other Minds Artistic Director Charles Amirkhanian.

The Gronigen Glass Festival has finally launched its propoer Glass Festival Website

A small bit of news in the last OMM Newsletter got me excited to see the album artwork for Monsters of Grace, due out next month.