Glass Notes

Free Record Release Party - OMM's "The American Virtuoso"

Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 - 7:30pm
Bosendorfer New York
200 Lexington Avenue, New York

COME JOIN US!

In celebration of Paul Barnes' third release with Orange Mountain Music, The American Virtuoso, a concert is taking place at Bosendorfer New York.  This is a Free event with a reception immediately following.  Reservations are required.  For a reservation Email: RSVP@BosendorferNewYork.com

The album of virtuoso piano music by American composers is available for pre-order at Amazon.com and available for download at Amazon's MP3 store. 

Bargains/New Releases

When Amazon's MP3 store launched, there were some hiccups in its first few days.  The most grievous (read:wonderful) mistakes were in pricing.  There were no "Album only" tracks...meaning, for example one could buy "Music with Changing Parts" which was one track (68 minutes) for $.99. 
Or, the entire Glass Symphony No. 8 (3 tracks...3 x $.99) for $2.97.  I myself bought the entire Clemes Krauss performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle (14 CDs worth of music for $13.96) which is now priced at $53.99 which is still a bargain.
Well, I have to draw your attention to the fact that one can currently download the entire Nonesuch recording of "Music in 12 Parts" for a paltry $9.99 as opposed to the CD retail price of $43.98.  I wish I didn't own it so I could buy it right now. I might anyway.  DO NOT get it confused with the EXACT SAME album which is priced for $22.99.  Clearly, disorganization still reigns chez Amazon MP3.
The good news is the wonderful and elegant new album "Songs and Poems for Solo Cello" has already appeared on the Amazon MP3 store.  This album by cellist Wendy Sutter is one of the most beautiful collections of Glass pieces I have heard in years.  "Songs and Poems" was composed in 2006 and premiered in January 2007.  The new Orange Mountain Music release also includes four "Tissues" from Naqoyqatsi.  The album will be in stores on February 12th.

Screenings - "GLASS: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts"

Scott Hicks new documentary "GLASS: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts" will be screening worldwide this spring and summer 2008 at a variety of Film Festivals.  All dates have been added to the philipglass.com/calendar but here are some of the participating festivals and cities:

Istanbul, Turkey (AFM Independent Film Festival) February 14 - 24
Adelaide, Australia (Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts) February 29 - March 16
    March 9 (Premiere of "Glass" at festival)
    March 12 (Discussion with Philip Glass, Scott Hicks and Anthony Steel)
Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (It's All True Festival) March 27th - April 6th)
New York, NY (IFC Center) film screening for two weeks beginning April 18th
Philadelphia, PA (Philadelphia Film Festival) April 3 - 15
Dallas, TX (AFI Dallas International Film Festival) March 26 – April 6
San Francisco, CA (San Francisco International Film Festival) April 24 – May 8
Warsaw, Poland (5th PLANETE DOC REVIEW) May 9 – 18
Sydney, Australia (55th Sydney Film Festival) June 4 – 22
Avignon, France (Avignon Film Festival) June 25 – 29
Wroclaw, Poland (ERA NEW HORIZONS International Film Festival) July 17 – 27

Discussion of 20th C. Music with Alex Ross

This is an engaging discussion with the New Yorker Magazine's Classical Music critic Alex Ross who recently released his book, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century"

Riesman/Barnes/Munich

"Philip Glass-Avignon France,  1976" (hmm, I wonder what he was doing in Avignon France in 1976???)

In just a few minutes, I will be going up to New York's Merkin Concert Hall to catch Michael Riesman's performance of a suite for solo piano from "Dracula" as part of the theater's Grand Piano Marathon. 

On January 31st OMM will be presenting a FREE concert at Bosendorfer New York celebrating Paul Barnes latest CD of American virtuoso piano works.  That should be especially fun as for those who don't know Barnes playing, it's really something special. 

Last week also kicked off a run of performances in Munich Germany of the Staastheater am Gaertnerplatz's run of "La Belle et la Bete."

Update on Glass Cancellations/Postponements

In light of Philip Glass' hand injury which is preventing him from performing on piano, some of his concert dates have been affected.  The calendar has been updated to reflect all changes. Philip Glass WILL BE appearing for his "In Conversation" evenings in Miami & Chicago with a pianist of his choosing performing his works for piano. 

However, his performances in Kansas & at Oberlin have been canceled. Michael Riesman has graciously stepped in for Philip Glass at Merkin Concert Hall's "Grand Piano Marathon" on Jan. 21 where he will perform a suite from Dracula on solo piano.

Check the Calendar for full updates....

Glass Documentary headed to theaters

The good news which was reported by Reuters, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and the like about Scott Hicks documentary on Philip Glass which will hit theaters in April.

Cassandra's Dream at Amazon & iTunes

Cassandra's Dream, Philip Glass' original score to the new Woody Allen film is available at Amazon and iTunes.

C. to C. (Chuck Close Ballet)

Recently a video piece on Bloomberg showed up about the Chuck Close ballet set to Philip Glass' piano music (etudes plus "A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close") performed by pianist Bruce Levingston. The video includes interviews and some of the actual performance. It premiered in NYC with the ABT in the fall and then departed on tour to San Francisco in November.

Joyeux 2008 tout le monde!

I sincerely hope everyone out there had a happy and safe celebration of the New Year.  I myself continued my four year tradition of walking down to the Brooklyn Promenade, where almost no one is on New Year's Eve, and quietly celebrating the turning of the annual leaf with some champagne, the fireworks, and the lower Manhattan Skyline. 

Much occurred during my absence including this fascinating piece in the New York Post...it's just great.  I think neither Mozart, Beethoven nor Ives ever had stories like these to share.  Personally I'm happy the composer triumphed over his own circumstances.  It's a long way from those New Year's Eve celebrations to artistic success, sometimes we forget it.

The other good news is that a lot of us will have the chance to see Appomattox in a theater near us.  In light of the success the Metropolitan Opera is having with its live HD simulcasts of operas, the SF Opera has launched a similar initiative with a slightly different take on it. Rather than experiencing their productions with the thrill of the "live" element, the SF Opera is focusing on quality including the benefit of lots of post production.  I have seen the production on DVD (of which some was excerpted for use in the NY Times piece about Appomattox) and it's really wonderful.  The encouraging trend is that more and more people are jumping at the chance to experience opera in the local movie house.