glass notes
DVD Update

Koch-Lorber will be releasing the Scott Hicks documentary film GLASS: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts on April 7th 2009.  This will come one day before PBS broadcasts the film (check your local listings).

Everyone out there have a very Merry Christmas, stay warm and safe.-Richard

10 thoughts on “DVD Update”

  2. April 7?? I have to wait ’til April 7????
    I could have my car thawed & dug out by then. The baseball season will have started by then.
    Barack Obama will be President by then.
    Oh well, I guess we all will wait.
    Happy safe, stress-free Holidays, Gang.
    Fran

  3. I am definite that the Met will NOT be releasing their production of SATYAGRAHA on DVD> I’m sure of this because of the fact that it wasn’t in theatres. As such, it was never filmed. Not having been filmed, they cannot release it on DVD. Whether there will someday be an audio recording from that production, who knows…maybe someday bvut nothing on the horizon.

  4. Richard,
    I may be totally wrong but just because Satygraha wasn’t in theaters (and I mean when was the last time they showed a recording of a stage play in theaters), doesn’t mean it wasn’t filmed.
    In fact, I am willing to bet that MET did record it for archives (and I’ve seen fairly extensive clips from the production on the NYT website that confirm that suspicion) but getting them to release it might be the real challenge. I mean production of this magnitude had to be recorded at least once.
    Again, this is just my (semi-educated) guess.
    As for the movie, I cannot wait to see it. Shame it didn’t get a wider release but I am very happy about being able to own it on DVD.
    Once again, big thanks for all the work that you do Richard and all the best in the new year.

  5. Roman, All I can say is that I am certain that it wasn’t filmed. So I can say with a fair amount of certainty that it is not forthcoming on dvd. Please know that this bit of news pains me to report since I was witness to this esquisite production. It also seems the other dvd of Satyagraha is now out of print. My question in general on this point is: what gives? I watched Doctor Atomic this monday on pbs and I cannot figure out what the hype is all about. On the other hand we have a 30 year old work like Satyagrah, and no definitive representation of the work in audio or video format. To borrow words from my Irish friends, it’s simply scandalous.

  6. I’ve been a Glass fan for over 25 years and have one of the best collections of Glass memorabilia. Not a single one of his operas is available in a high-quality production on DVD. The only one available is the Freyer version of Satyagraha which is not that great in production quality.
    The only high-quality live performance of a Glass piece in my collection is Paul Barnes’ performance of the second piano concerto “After Lewis & Clark” with the Omaha Symphony which was not released to the public. It is absolutely top notch in video and audio quality. Among others, I wish “Orion” would have been made into a DVD, as that work was amazing to experience. I know it costs huge buckets of money to do high-quality audio/video productions, but years from now people will wonder why there’s barely any video record available of Glass’s career.

  7. Hear! Hear! Steve, it really sucks that there’s not more video. The Paul Barnes video is good but not my favorite piece and not commercially available. The lack of videos is one thing, but how about the fact that only half of the operas (10) are available? I wish the Met had done a video of Satyagraha. Also on my wish list is a dvd of Appomattox considering those nice clips from the NY Times coverage of the premiere.

  8. Well you guys are in luck! The Scott Hicks doc features live performance clips in glorious HD from Waiting from the Barbarians, Orion, a solo piano performance in Melbourne (Metamorphosis #2) and Philip listening to Symphony number 8 for the first time at BAM (conducted by Dennis Russel Davies). I wonder what “extended scenes” will be included on the DVD?

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