In the music world the debut of a Philip Glass opera is always a noteworthy event.
On Wednesday the world premiere of his new work "The Perfect American" will be broadcast live online as a free webcast through the online classical music portal medici.tv.
The live broadcast takes place at 11 a.m. Wednesday and will be available for free replay for the next 90 days. Information is available here
"The Perfect American" is the first opera to explore Walt Disney as its subject. Adapted from a novel of the same name by Peter Stephan Jungk, the opera plumbs the last months of Disney's life.
In the opera, Glass depicts Disney as a complex and contradictory figure whose youth as a European immigrant was marked by misfortune, and bolstered by his pursuit of the American Dream.
The world premiere live broadcast will be given from the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, which commissioned the piece.
Glass's position as a major force in 20th century is now secure. His is a prodigious resume - which includes his intimate and hypnotic chamber music to operas like "Einstein on the Beach" and film soundtracks like "Koyaanisqatsi,"
The production will be led by music director Dennis Russell Davies, who has been at the helm for almost all of Glass's opera premieres. The production will be stage directed by Phelim McDermott and boasts a cast that includes bass Christopher Purves as Walt Disney, baritone David Pittsinger as his brother, Roy; and soprano Marie McLaughlin as his wife.
Upcoming webcasts on medici.tv:
Feb 14
When: 7:45 a.m.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Orchestra Hall, Detroit
Beethoven: "Overture" to Egmont
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral"
Feb 15
When: 10 a.m.
Chinese New Year Celebration with New York Philharmonic
Long Yu, conductor
Lincoln Center, New York, NY
Li Huanzhi: Spring Festival Overture
Mahler: "Der Einsame im Herbst" from Das Lied von der Erde
Ye Xiaogang: "Imitation of Old Poem: Long Autumn Night" from The Song of the Earth
Traditional: Selections from the Peking Opera
Traditional: Selections (with the Snow Lotus Trio)
March 6
When: 11 a.m
The Tetzlaff Quartet
Louvre Auditorium, Paris
Bartók: String Quartet No. 4
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor
Haydn: String Quartet in C
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