Einstein on the Beach
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Einstein on the Beach is an opera that premiered on July 25, 1976 at the Avignon Festival in France, scored and written by Philip Glass and designed and directed by theatrical producer Robert Wilson. It also contains writings by Christopher Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson and Lucinda Childs. Einstein on the Beach is described by Glass as an "Opera in four acts for ensemble, chorus and soloists".
This is Glass's first and longest opera score, taking approximately five hours (a little under three and a half hours on CD) to complete, with no intermission. Given the length of the opera the audience is free to enter and leave as they desire.
Einstein's musical score became the first in a loosely related thematic trilogy, followed by Satyagraha (1980) and Akhnaten (1983). These three operas were described by Glass as "portrait" operas that portray men whose personal vision transformed the thinking of their times through the power of ideas rather than by military force.
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