Einstein on the Beach: Opera beyond Drama

Jelena Novak is Researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Sociology and Aesthetics of Music at NOVA University of Lisbon. Her publications include Opera u doba medija (Opera in the Age of Media), Postopera: Reinventing the Voice-Body, and Operofilia.John Richardson is Professor of Musicology at the University of Turku in Finland. His publications include An Eye for Music: Popular Music and the Audiovisual Surreal, Singing Archaeology: Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, and The Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics (eds. Richardson, Gorbman, and Vernallis).

• ContentsList of figures viiiList of music examples xSeries editor preface xiForeword: music and culture in the wake of Einstein xiiiContributors xviiAcknowledgements xxiiiIntroduction xxvJOHN RICHARDSON AND JELENA NOVAKKnee chapter 1Paying attention to Einstein: Philip Glass interviewed by John Richardson 1PART 1Einstein on the shores of culture 131 Einstein on the radio 15ROBERT FINK2 Sous les pavés, la plage 49JOHANNES BIRRINGER3 Einstein on the Beach in Belgrade: a critical testimony 66MIŠKO ŠUVAKOVIĆKnee chapter 2Einstein on the Beach is not radical, it is classic: Robert Wilson interviewed by Bojan Djordjev 79PART 2From repetition to representation 874 Intuition and algorithm in Einstein on the Beach 89KYLE GANN5 “Only pictures to hear”: reading Einstein on the Beach through experimental theater 106PWYLL AP SIÔN6 Creating beauty in chaos: Robert Wilson’s visual authorship in Einstein on the Beach 125AVRA SIDIROPOULOUKnee chapter 3Stay out of the way of Bob Wilson when he dances: Lucinda Childs interviewed by Jelena Novak 141PART 3Beyond drama: surfaces and agencies of performance 1497 Heavenly bodies: the integral role of dance in Einstein on the Beach 151LEAH G. WEINBERG8 Anonymous voice, sound, indifference 174ZEYNEP BULUTKnee chapter 4Artists recall and respond 195Suzanne Vega, Under the influence – Philip Glass 195Two Finnish composers reminisce: Juhani Nuorvala, Petri Kuljuntausta 198Tom Johnson, Rehearsing Einstein on the Beach 203Two steps forwards but three steps back, and then one step forwards again – Peter Greenaway interviewed by John Richardson 206PART 4Operatic machines and their ghosts 2119 Leaving and re-entering: punctuating Einstein on the Beach 213SANDER VAN MAAS10 Historia Einsteinalium: from the beach to the church, via theater and “state bank” 231JELENA NOVAKKnee chapter 5 Critical excavations 253Pieter T’Jonck, How democratic baroque came about in dance and Einstein on the Beach 253Frits van der Waa, Einstein in the press 261Appendix 1: Robert Wilson, Einstein on the Beach,storyboard drawings 271Appendix 2: Einstein on the Beach, spoken texts 276Bibliography 287Index 301