Einstein On The Beach - Recordings

Recordings

Two "complete" recordings of the opera have been made: the first in 1978, released on the Tomato label (TOM-4-2901) in 1979, and later on CBS Masterworks followed by Sony Classical; the second in 1993, released that same year on the Nonesuch label. The 1978 recording was held to 160 minutes in order to fit onto four LP records, i.e., the opening scene's repeats were considerably shortened. The 1993 recording encompassed 190 minutes, freed by the technology of the compact disc.

Michael Riesman conducted both recordings. In 1978 Lucinda Childs, Sheryl Sutton, Paul Mann, and Samuel M. Johnson performed the opera's texts, with Philip Glass Ensemble performer Iris Hiskey taking the soprano solo. In 1993 Childs and Sutton repeated their roles, while Gregory Dolbashian and Jasper McGruder replaced Mann and the late Mr. Johnson's roles respectively, and Jeremy Montemarano voiced the role of "The Boy;" Schuman sang the soprano role. Most of the participants in the Nonesuch recording had performed in Einstein on the Beach during its 1992 world tour. A 77-minute "highlights" CD from the 1984 Brooklyn Academy of Music performances, accompanied by a DVD documentary, was released by Philip Glass's personal label Orange Mountain Music in early September 2012, and a "complete" recording, 217 minutes long, was released at the same time but available only by download from the iTunes Store.

The violin part for the work has been performed by Robert Brown (in the live 1976 production), Paul Zukofsky (in the 1979 recording), Tison Street (in the live 1984 production), Gregory Fulkerson (in the live 1992 production and 1993 recording) and an interchanging performance of Jennifer Koh and Antoine Silverman during the 2012/13 production.