Philip Glass (1937) - an early representative of minimalism in music -, has been dedicating himself to theatre productions ever since the 1970’s. His first operatic triumph, the piece Einstein on the Beach (1976), in which he collaborated with the celebrated director Robert Wilson, had in many ways livened up the then international contemporary opera scene. A subtle reflection about an artist’s life, Glass’s opera Beauty and the Beast - first staged in Italy, in 1994 and based on the works by Jean Cocteau -, is quite different from its renowned animated and film versions. Although presented as a simple fairy tale, it soon becomes clear that it tackles a much wider and deeper theme – the nature of creative process. Through an unusual alchemy of spirit the everyday world is transformed into the world of magic. By the end of the story the power of creative - represented by the Beauty -, and the primal world of nature - represented by the Beast -, enable the world of imagination to spread its wings and fly. Glass’s opera Beauty and the Beast will also be a first staging of any of the composer’s operatic pieces in our country, and an appropriate opportunity to remember the eightieth anniversary of the artist’s birth, which was celebrated in 2017. The staging of this performance as his opera direction debut is entrusted to the acknowledged choreographer and theatre director Matjaž Farič.

Tatjana Ažman