Friday night saw New Yorkers and visitors turned out in the thousands to hear/see the Glass/Reggio collaboration Powaqqatsi at the bandshell in Olmstead’s masterpiece, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
It was a fun night. A bit of it can be seen on youtube. It was in fact the first time the Philip Glass Ensemble had performed it with live chorus. The Brooklyn Youth Chorus did a wonderful job and the performance was great. As one fan noted the only distracting part is the synth brass but one got used to it as the performance went on. It was nice to see such a strong number for the ensemble. I counted six keyboards, three wind players, two percussionists, a large version of the group.
The enthusiastic crowd, which must have contained a large contingient of Brazilians (they cheered at the pre-concert interview with Glass & Reggio at the mention of Brazil), clearly loved the film and the music.
Reggio confirmed to me that he was indeed working on another film, though, it may, as with Naqoyatsi, take years to find the funding. Having the time to reflect, again I was struck by what a wonderful collaboration these two artists share.
As for the Ensemble, their schedule may not at present include any more Qatsi performances, but San Francisco will enjoy a complete performance of Music in 12 Parts in February and the imminent world premiere of “los Paisajes del Rio” in September.