Glass Notes

Closing the Gap

Welcome Barbarians

Waiting for the Barbarians, my favorite Glass piece in years is released today June 3rd.  Glass composed the allegorical opera in 2005, the same year as the magnificent Symphony No.8.  'Twas a good year.  Barbarians is up on Amazon, iTunes and is available now just in advance of the last performance of this production in London on June 12.  Anyone have a free ticket to London for me?

More Songs....

In addition to hitting no.2 on iTunes Classical, "Songs & Poems" charted at no.12 on Billboard's Classical Charts (ironically two slots behind the soundtrack to "No Reservations").  The amazing press this record has received from the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, LA Times and most every other conceivable US press outlet, was complemented yesterday with this great review in the New York Times.  I'm sure it's quite gratifying for the artists involved, but I am personally thrilled because critical and commercial success are not always guaranteed to works of high quality; "Songs & Poems" seems to have reached quite a few happy and appreciative listeners...for that I am surprised and grateful.

Little Dancer Ballet set to Glass Symphony No.8

We're #2! We're #2!

I was thrilled to see that "Songs and Poems" reach no. 2 today at iTunes Classical.  It's no doubt due in part or whole to NPR's "On Point" program which broadcast last night.  The program exists as a FREE podcast through the WBUR website or iTunes, It's only available for a couple weeks so DOWNLOAD AWAY! 

New Premieres

PhilipGlass.com has updated the calendar with two premieres in the coming months:

July 7th at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, long-time Glass champion Dennis Russell Davies & pianist Maki Namekawa will perform Glass' new concert work "Four Movement for Two Pianos"; on September 14th, the Philip Glass Esnemble will travel to Zaragoza Spain to perform a new piece set to fireworks called "los Paisajes del Rio"

Interesting additions to the calendar also include Symphony No. 3 in Stockholm this November, and Symphony No.6 "Plutonian Ode" next March in Holland (who only last year hosted a whole Glass festival)

New York Review of Books

Very good piece on the Met's production and the Glass concept.

"Little Dancer" in Houston

The Houston ballet's presentation of "Little Dancer" set to Philip Glass Eighth Symphony is to my knowledge the first time anyone has set this masterpiece to dance.  I'd love to see it. Here is the review from its debut.

Epilogue - The Great Salt March

Mishima Criterion Edition