Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach

Michael Riesman, The Philip Glass Ensemble

Composer

Philip Glass

classical opera avant-garde contemporary classical minimal

Sony Classical

Recorded

1979

Released

1979

Einstein on the Beach was the first opera to be written in the minimalist style. (There would not be many others, though the operatic works of John Adams at least refer back to the roots of 1960s and 1970s minimalism.) A collaborative work between composer Philip Glass and theatrical producer Robert Wilson, it departs significantly from traditional opera in its avoidance of conventional narrative structure, and it represents a good example of Glass’s heavily arpeggiated style. Glass would later write two more biographical operas, Satyagraha and Akhnaten, which together formed the Portrait Trilogy.

Rick Anderson