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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Philip Glass Solo

The album artwork for Philip Glass Solo.

On January 26th, Philip Glass regales his global fan base with an album of intimate piano tracks drawn from his own catalogue, recorded during the pandemic by himself in his home studio. Some selections were originally intended for piano; others were not. Appropriately enough, the program opens with “Opening,” from the album Glassworks (1982), a chamber work targeting the Walkman demographic at a time when the Glass brand spelled mammoth aural frescoes for the concert hall, the big screen, and the opera house. Movements from Metamorphosis put an autumnal spin on Kafka-inspired material previously released on Philip Glass Solo (1989). The 17-minute Mad Rush (1978) reworks an organ piece associated with the Dalai Lama’s first public address in New York. “Truman Sleeps” harks back to Glass’s on-camera performance in a key scene from the Jim Carrey classic The Truman Show (1998). A rare memento. —Matthew Gurewitsch

Photo: Luis Álvarez Roure/National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian Institution