Einstein on the Beach is an opera in four acts composed by Philip Glass and directed by theatrical producer Robert Wilson, who also collaborated with Glass on the work's libretto. The opera eschews traditional narrative in favor of a formalist approach based on structured spaces laid out by Wilson in a series of storyboards which are framed and connected by five "knee plays" or intermezzos. The music was written "in the spring, summer and fall of 1975." Glass recounts the collaborative process: "I put [Wilson’s notebook of sketches] on the piano and composed each section like a portrait of the drawing before me. The score was begun in the spring of 1975 and completed by the following November, and those drawings were before me all the time."
The opera's premiere occurred on July 25, 1976, at the Théâtre Municipal in Avignon, France, as part of the Avignon Festival. The opera contains writings by Christopher Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson and Lucinda Childs. It is Glass's first and longest opera score, taking approximately five hours in full performance without intermission; given the length, the audience is permitted to enter and leave as desired.
The work became the first in Glass's thematically related Portrait Trilogy, along with Satyagraha (1979), and Akhnaten (1983). These three operas were described by Glass as portraits of people whose personal vision transformed the thinking of their times through the power of ideas rather than by military force.
Composition and performance history
Glass and Wilson first met to discuss the prospects of a collaborative work, and decided on an opera of between four and five hours in length based around a historical persona. Wilson initially suggested Charlie Chaplin or Adolf Hitler, whom Glass outright rejected, while Glass proposed Mahatma Gandhi (later the central figure of his 1979 opera Satyagraha). Albert Einstein was the eventual compromise. The title appears to reference the post-apocalyptic novel On the Beach by Nevil Shute.
1976 premiere and first tour
Einstein on the Beach premiered on July 25, 1976, at the Théâtre Municipal in Avignon, France, as part of the Avignon Festival. It was performed by the Philip Glass Ensemble and presented by the Byrd Hoffmann Foundation. The opera was also staged that summer in Hamburg, Paris, Belgrade, Venice, Brussels and Rotterdam. The Byrd Hoffman Foundation in cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera held two performances in November 1976. Lucinda Childs, Robert Wilson, pupil Sheryl S. Sutton, and Samuel M. Johnson filled the primary characters. All three would go on to reappear in the 1984 BAM revival.
1980s
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) next mounted the opera in 1984. A one-hour documentary about this production appeared on public television, titled Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera.
In 1988, opera director Achim Freyer, who had staged the world premiere of Glass's Akhnaten in Stuttgart, Germany in 1984, designed and staged a reworked version in a highly abstract style, with new spoken texts from the early 20th century, at the Stuttgart State Opera. As with the premiere, this version was also conducted by Michael Riesman.
1990s
In 1992, a revival was mounted by International Production Associates that included the participation of Wilson, Glass and Childs. The production was re-staged at the McCarter Theatre at Princeton University. It subsequently toured to Frankfurt, Melbourne, Barcelona, Madrid, Tokyo, Brooklyn (BAM), and Paris.
2000s
In 2007, Carnegie Hall presented a concert version of Einstein in which violinist Tim Fain appeared as soloist. The New York Times wrote about his performance, "And Tim Fain, the violinist, gave the solo passages in the second, fourth and fifth 'Knee Plays' and in the climactic, swirling 'Spaceship Interior' scene an electrifying, virtuosic workout." Fain tours extensively with Philip Glass in duo recitals and they always include the solo from "Knee Play 2" on their program.
2010s
A revival with the participation of all the original collaborators was commissioned by the New York City Opera (NYCO) to open their 2009–10 season. When General Manager designate Gerard Mortier withdrew from NYCO, the revival, along with the rest of Mortier's programming, was canceled.