glass notes
Kepler Update – Premiere Date Sept. 20th

From the Bruckner Orchester Page:

Worldpremiere Kepler


20/09/2009 – 19:30

Linz, Landestheater, Großes Haus

Philip Glass: Kepler (UA) in Coop. with Linz09

Philip Glass’s opera, written expressly for Landestheater Linz and
Linz09, deals with the intellectual cosmos of the great astronomer.

Johannes Kepler lived and worked in Linz from 1612 to 1627.  The opera raises
fundamental questions of the kind that Kepler worked on all his life
and that he hoped science would be able to answer. Historical ruptures
in the wake of the Counter Reformation shaped the world into which the
astronomer and mathematician was born in 1571. Surrounded on all sides
by war and religious strife, he sought to decipher the divine order
hidden in the “book of Nature”, in the unshakable belief that his
efforts would be crowned with success. “God has based everything on
numbers”, was the motto that inspired his research. Philip Glass, one of the best known composers of our time, bases his
approach to Kepler on the astromer’s conviction that “without genuine
knowledge life is dead”.

The opera’s libretto is by the Austrian theatre maker Martina Winkel.
The director, stage designer and video artists Peter Missotten is in
charge of the mise-en-scène.
The production continues the long-time cooperation between Dennis
Russell Davies and Philip Glass, which has led to several world and
European premieres in Linz over the last years.

Peter Missotten, Production, Designer
Martina Winkel, Libretto
Klaus-Peter Kehr, Conceptualadvice

Of interest is that this is Glass' first opera setting German.  Also of insterest is that on the Bruckner calendar page, it indicates a US tour in November of this year….the last time they were here they premiere the Glass Eighth Symphony.  Very promising…

You can also go to the Landes Theater Linz page and download their season brochure. In the brochure the print the dates of the show, including 14 performances over 4 months.

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