Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass is here presented in concert version, and the result of a collaboration between Suzanne Vega, the Ictus Ensemble, Collegium Vocale Gent and the visual artist Germaine Kruip.

The score of the legendary Glass/Wilson opera is performed almost in full in a 200-minute version. The diabolical rhythmic, instrumental and vocal virtuosity required by the work is served up with a sophisticated sound design and enhanced by a subtle staging that alters the experience usually associated with concert halls.

The extreme length of the work, the full deployment of repetitive and accumulative processes, the mesmerising diction of Suzanne Vega as she delivers the spoken texts, have the effect of plunging the audience into an immersive, unfathomable listening experience, reconnecting listeners with the freshness and radicalism of the first minimalist experiences. The doors of the auditorium remain open, allowing the audience to come and go at will, while the boundary between stage and seats is blurred by Germaine Kruip’s artistic and luminous installation, which reconfigures the space.