Опера Филипа Гласса: Эйнштейн на пляже

Opera by Philip Glass
the Philip Glass opera
(solo violin, two flutes, bass clarinet, SATB chorus, two electric organs)
"Paris"/"All Men Are Equal" (solo electric organ)
Knee Play 2 (solo violin)
Act 2
Scene 1 – Dance 1 "Field with Spaceship" (piccolo, soprano and alto saxophones, solo soprano and alto voices, two electric organs)
Scene 2 – Night Train (solo soprano and tenor voices, two flutes, bass clarinet, SATB chorus, electric organ)
Knee Play 3 (SATB chorus a cappella)
Act 3
Scene 1 – Trial 2/Prison
"Prematurely Air Conditioned Supermarket" (SATB chorus, electric organ)
Ensemble (three flutes, two electric organs)
"I Feel the Earth Move" (soprano saxophone, bass clarinet)
Scene 2 – Dance 2 "Field with Spaceship" (solo violin, solo soprano, SATB chorus, electric organ)
Knee Play 4 (solo violin, tenor and bass chorus)
Act 4
Scene 1 – Building/Train (two electric organs, improvisatory woodwinds and chorus, solo tenor saxophone)
Scene 2 – Bed
Cadenza (solo electric organ)
Prelude (solo electric organ)
Aria (solo soprano, electric organ)
Scene 3 – Spaceship (flute, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, solo violin, solo soprano voice, SATB chorus, two electric organs)
Knee Play 5 (solo violin, soprano and alto chorus, electric organ)

Two "complete" recordings of the opera have been made: the first in 1978, initially released on the Tomato label (TOM 4 2901) in 1979, and later reissued by CBS Masterworks, followed by Sony Classical (both M4K 38875); the second in 1993, released that same year on the Nonesuch label (79323). The 1978 recording was held to 165 minutes in order to fit onto four LP records, i. e., the opening scene's repeats were considerably shortened. The 1993 recording encompassed 200 minutes, freed by the technology of the compact disc, although it was released on three CDs instead of the original's four. Michael Riesman conducted both recordings. In 1978, Lucinda Childs, Sheryl Sutton, Paul Mann, and Samuel M. Johnson performed the opera's texts, with Philip Glass Ensemble performer Iris Hiskey taking the soprano solo. In 1993 Childs and Sutton repeated their roles, while Gregory Dolbashian and Jasper McGruder replaced Mann and the late Mr. Johnson's roles respectively; Patricia Schuman sang the soprano role. Most of the participants in the Nonesuch recording had performed in Einstein on the Beach during its 1992 world tour. A 77 minute highlights CD from the 1984 Brooklyn Academy of Music performances, accompanied by a DVD documentary, was released by Philip Glass's personal label Orange Mountain Music in early September 2012, and an extended recording, 217 minutes long, was released at the same time but available only by download from the iTunes Store. In October 2013, Pacifica Radio released a two disc set of a 1976 interview with Glass and Wilson conducted at The Kitchen and excerpts from a rehearsal of some excerpts from the opera, also performed at The Kitchen on March 19, 1976. The violin part for the work has been performed by Robert Brown (in the live 1976 production), Paul Zukofsky (in the 1979 recording), Tison Street (in the live 1984 production), Gregory Fulkerson (in the live 1992 production and 1993 recording) and an interchanging performance of Jennifer Koh and Antoine Silverman during the 2012/16 production. A shortened version of "I Feel the Earth Move", along with three other pieces from the opera, were chosen to appear on the Philip Glass album Songs from the Trilogy. Anton Batagov recorded 3 transcription pieces (Scene 2 – Trail 1 from act 1, scene 2 – Night Train from act 2 and Knee Play 5) from this work on solo piano in his album Prophecies (2016, on Orange Mountain Music label). A 270 minute recording from January 2014 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris was released on DVD and Blu ray in October 2016.

The title was used as inspiration for the 1994 Counting Crows song "Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)". Excerpts were used as background music for several shots in season 3, episode 5 (2017) of the Mr. Robot television series. In the episode "Out with Dad" of the TV series Frasier, the title character, an opera lover, says, "You see, there's a stunning woman who comes to the opera on the same nights we do. She has the box right across from ours. We've flirted a bit from a distance. I have laughed with her during Figaro, cried with her during Tosca. I even had a dream about her during Einstein on the Beach." Excerpts from the movement "Knee Play 1" are played during a montage sequence in the 2005 Alex Gibney documentary film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. An edited version of "Knee Play 1" was also used in the launch advertisement for Orange S. A. in 1994. At the 2013 Drum Corps International World Championship, the first place winners, Carolina Crown, earned a perfect score in the brass section when they performed parts of "Knee Play 3", "Trial/Prison", "Spaceship", and "Knee Play 5". Among the works of Peter Schickele's fictitious alter ego P. D. Q. Bach is one called Einstein on the Fritz (S. E=mc2). Schickele was a friend of Philip and was a Juilliard classmate of his. Helen Pickett's 2012 When Love created on the Dance Theatre of Harlem uses Knee Play 5.