Soundohm
“The result is a nearly three-and-a-half-hour meditation on time, repetition, and perception - a hypnotic landscape where voice, instrument, and architecture dissolve into a free flowing continuum.”
24 October 2025
1
2
3
Philip Glass
Einstein On The Beach (4LP box)
Format4LP BoxLabelCBSGenreExperimental
Out of stock
Tracked express shipping from Italy, no customs or import VAT in the EU. Shipping costs
1984 re-issue on CBS of the 4LP box set with the first full recording of the momumental and ground-breaking 1976 Minimalist opera in collaboration with Robert Wilson. Essential. With booklet.
condition (records/box): NM / NM
With original innersleeves and booklet.
The first opera in Glass's portrait trilogy, premiered at Avignon on 25 July 1976 and brought to the Metropolitan Opera that November in a self-funded one-night co-presentation that left Glass and Robert Wilson about $90,000 in debt. Four and a half hours, no plot, no intermission. Five "Knee Plays" frame four image-sequences (train, trial, dance, spaceship). Texts by Christopher Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson and Lucinda Childs.
Recorded June 1978 at Big Apple Recording Studios, conducted by Michael Riesman, shortened to 165 minutes to fit four LPs. Iris Hiskey sings soprano; Jon Gibson, Richard Landry and Richard Peck anchor the Ensemble; Childs and Sheryl Sutton speak. Originally on Tomato Records (TOM-4-2901, 1979), licensed to CBS Masterworks in 1984. Dutch pressing. 24-page 12"x12" libretto with Edwin Denby essay.
Details
Cat. number: I 3M 39672
Year: 1984
Release notes
℗ 1979 CBS Inc. © 1979 CBS Inc. Made in Holland. Distribution CBS Records / CBS Disques S.A. Recorded & mixed at Big Apple Recording Studios, New York, N.Y. Mastered at Masterdisk, New York, N.Y. Opera in four acts. Box set containing 4 LPs and 24 page booklet plus printed CBS-Masterworks antistatic inner sleeves. European Masterworks pressing with color printed "seal" at the box upper right corner. This recording of 'Einstein on the Beach' contains all the music, lyrics and…
Tracklist
| A1 | Knee Play 1 (Chorus And Electric Organ) | ||
| Act I | |||
| A2 | Scene 1: Train (Ensemble With Solo Voice And Chorus Joining At The End) | ||
| B | Scene 2: Trial (Chorus, Violin, Electric Organ And Flute) | 23:20 | |
| C1 | Knee Play 2 (Violin Solo) | ||
| Act II | |||
| C2 | Scene 1: Dance 1 ("Field With Spaceship") (Ensemble With Solo Voice / Dancers) | ||
| D1 | Scene 2: Night Train (2 Voices, Chorus And Small Ensemble) | ||
| D2 | Knee Play 3 (Chorus A Capella) | ||
| Act III | |||
| E | Scene 1: Trial / Prison (Chorus And Electric Organ, Ensemble At The End) | 18:18 | |
| F1 | Scene 2: Dance 2 ("Field With Spaceship") (6 Voices, Violin, Electric Organ) | ||
| F2 | Knee Play 4 (Chorus And Violin) | ||
| Act IV | |||
| G1 | Scene 1: Building / Train (Chorus And Ensemble) | ||
| G2 | Scene 2: Bed (Solo Electric Organ And Voice) | ||
| H1 | Scene 3: Spaceship (Chorus And Ensemble) | ||
| H2 | Knee Play 5 (Woman's Chorus, Violin And Electric Organ) | ||
Credits
- Dora Ohrenstein
- Alto Vocals [Small Chorus] (A1, A2, B, D1, F1, G1, H1), Chorus [Small Chorus - Women] (H2)
- David Anchel
- Bass Vocals [Small Chorus] (A1, A2, B, D1, F1, G1, H1)
- Sean Barker
- Bass Vocals [Small Chorus] (A1, A2, B, D1, F1, G1, H1)
- Bruce Burroughs
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Connie Beckley
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Dana Reitz
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- David Woodberry
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Forest Warren
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Frank Conversano
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- George Andoniadis
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Grethe Holby
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Jeannie Hutchins
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Marc Jacobi
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E), Tenor Vocals [Small Chorus] (A1, A2, B, D1, F1, G1, H1)
- Marie Rice
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Richard Morrison
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Ritty Ann Burchfield
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Ronald Roxbury
- Chorus [Large] (D2, E)
- Iris Hiskey
- Chorus [Small Chorus - Women] (H2), Performer [The Philip Glass Ensemble - Voice], Soprano Vocals [Small Chorus] (A1, A2, B, D1, F1, G1, H1)
- Michael Riesman
- Conductor [Choral], Engineer [Mixing], Performer [The Philip Glass Ensemble - Organ, Synthesizer Bass, Additional Keyboards]
- Milton Glaser
- Design [Box & Booklet], Illustration [Box Cover]
- James Farber
- Engineer [Assistant]
- Kurt Munkacsi
- Engineer [Mixing], Engineer [Recording], Performer [The Philip Glass Ensemble - Sound Mix], Producer
- Roddy Hui
- Engineer [Recording]
- Wieslaw Woszczyk
- Engineer [Recording]
- The Philip Glass Ensemble
- Ensemble
- Robert Wilson
- Illustration [Drawings]
- Edwin Denby
- Liner Notes
- Philip Glass
- Liner Notes, Music By, Lyrics By, Performer [The Philip Glass Ensemble - Organ], Producer
- Robert Palmer
- Liner Notes
- Bill Kipper
- Mastered By
- Richard Peck
- Performer [The Philip Glass Ensemble - Alto Saxophone, Flute]
- Richard Landry
- Performer [The Philip Glass Ensemble - Flute, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet], Photography By, Photography By [Booklet Cover Photograph]
- Jon Gibson
- Performer [The Philip Glass Ensemble - Soprano Saxophone, Flute]
- Babette Mangolte
- Photography By
- Fulvio Roiter
- Photography By
- Gerard Murrell
- Photography By
- Robert Mapplethorpe
- Photography By
- Phillip Gavin Smith
- Tenor Vocals [Small Chorus] (A1, A2, B, D1, F1, G1, H1)
Read review
