Einstein on the Beach

The legendary opera Einstein on the Beach by Phillip Glass, Robert Wilson and Lucinda Childs premièred at the Festival of Avignon in 1976. It was certainly not a conventional opera. It lasted for more than five hours and the audience could freely come in and out. It wasn’t about telling a continuous story but about experiencing time itself. For this new concertante version, the Ictus ensemble is joining forces with the Collegium Vocale Ghent and with neo-folk legend Suzanne Vega. There is no spectacular staging in the style of Robert Wilson this time; the musical composition and the musicality of the libretto are the central focus in a minimalist and hypnotizing soundscape that lasts 200 minutes. The visual and spatial interventions by Dutch visual artist Germaine Kruip will ensure a continuum between the stage and the audience.

• Collegium Vocale Gent is an ensemble led by conductor Phillippe Herreweghe that has been taking the world by storm since the 1970s. Germaine Kruip is a scenographer and visual artist, and has been featured at Kaaitheater twice before: during Performatik15 and during the Kunstenfestivaldesarts 2016. The Brussels music ensemble Ictus is a fixture of the Kaaitheater programme. This season, they are also presenting creations with Mette Edvardsen and Matteo Fargion, Eleanor Bauer, and Noé Soulier.