Groundbreaking opera is resurrected in Ann Arbor
In July of 1976, the curiously-titled opera “Einstein on the Beach” premiered in Avignon, France, to an audience who was expecting, well, an opera. The sprawling musical collage left viewers stunned, having witnessed a completely new form of artistic expression that broke many rules of opera while triumphantly instituting new ones. The production has since become somewhat of a mythic landmark, having surfaced only a handful of times since – while inspiring countless plays, orchestras and films to new levels of possibility. This January, in Ann Arbor’s Power Center for the Performing Arts, “Einstein on the Beach” will be resurrected for the first time in 20 years by the same people who orchestrated its premier.
If you’re like me and were unfamiliar with this production until recently, think of it on the same level as the genre-twisting achievements of David Bowie or the ahead-of-its-time genius of Stanley Kubrick films. But while those comparisons reference individuals who impacted their respective artistic mediums, “Einstein on the Beach” approached art from nearly every angle and shook it up.
Calling “Einstein on the Beach” an opera is like calling Einstein himself a physicist. While that’s his most immediate identity, Einstein was also a humanist, philosopher and musician whose way of viewing the world was, to those of his time, other-worldly. And that is, perhaps, the reason why creators Philip Glass and Robert Wilson chose Einstein as the singular reality grounding their otherwise distant and ethereal magnum opus: this opera is to postmodern art as Einstein was to modern science: a grand oddity with ideas that are so abstract and sensational that they are able to invoke wonderment immediately while slowly revealing their value.
It goes against the nature of the production to attempt to explain it in words, so I’ll briefly lay out the skeleton of this opera and leave the magic to your actual experience:
I haven’t actually witnessed “Einstein on the Beach.” It’s a shooting star of a production, having only been mounted on three occasions in select cities (1976, 1984 and 1992). But, from what I’ve heard, its revival this January is going to be something special. The opera consists of four interconnected acts that play out over a course of five hours. There is no intermission, and audiences are permitted to come and go at will. Like I said, this is abstract. And it gets a little stranger.
Born from the minds of revered composer Philip Glass, whose work is as well known in opera as it is in film, and director Robert Wilson, often regarded as one of the world’s greatest theatrical visionaries, “Einstein on the Beach” abandons any trace of traditional storytelling in favor of a more transcendent approach. Symbolism, scattered imagery, stream-of-consciousness poetic readings and simultaneously simplistic and intricate human movements from renowned choreographer Lucinda Childs are a few of the elements that bring this opera to life. Instrumentation consists of woodwinds, saxophones, violins, synthesizers and electronic organs. These ingredients combine in careful movement and repetition to form a dreamlike experience that is more likely to speak to your subconscious than to the rational part of your mind that’s trying to figure it all out.
In a recent interview, Dr. Mark Clague (an Associate Professor of Musicology at the University of Michigan and former Executive Editor for Music of the United States of America) provided some insight regarding the meaning of “Einstein on the Beach.”
“‘Einstein’ plays with the resonances of history itself,” Dr. Clague explains. “To me, the creators’ point is that art forges meaning in a kind of symbolic interaction with its audience. As someone who grew up when ‘Einstein’ was premiered, I know that I’ll interpret the work in light of where America was at the time of its creation…” He reasons that the United States’ relations with the rest of the world throughout the Cold War, as well as the redefined concepts of our relation to the universe and the continued development of technology (all being issues in which Albert Einstein played a significant role), connect Einstein to the implied historical commentary of the production.
Part of the beauty of “Einstein on the Beach” is that it harbors those implications while allowing the audience to determine their meaning and direction. In this way, the opera remains a thought-provoking fever dream of an experience that is subject to the viewer’s interpretation, where it can be molded into a profound projection of mid-twentieth century history or left untouched as an awe-inspiring piece of art.
However audiences choose to embrace “Einstein on the Beach,” there is no argument as to the significance of having this production remounted by its original creators in the city of Ann Arbor. In a recent press release, Glass commented on the gravity of the upcoming event, saying, “For [Wilson] and me, the 2012 revival of ‘Einstein on the Beach’ will be a most significant event, since, in all likelihood, this will be the last time that we will be together and able to work on the piece. For audiences, few of whom have experienced ‘Einstein’ apart from audio recordings, this tour will be a chance finally to see this seminal work.”
The University Musical Society is acting as co-commissioner of the production and has organized a series of discussions entitled “Renegade” that will explore the themes and significance of ‘Einstein’ and other related productions. These free-of-charge discussions, hosted by Dr. Clague, will feature presentations from genre experts including Glass and Wilson.
“So much of what we hope the arts bring to education is a spark of creativity,” says Dr. Clague. “These artists have been the mavericks who have inspired new ideas that have shaped art as a set of possibilities. They didn’t just ‘think outside the box’ – they shredded the box and made an opera out of it.”
“Einstein on the Beach” will be performed on Friday, January 20 and Saturday, January 21 at 7 p.m. with a matinee performance on Sunday, January 21 at 2 p.m. For information regarding tickets and the UMS Renegade series, visit ums.org.
