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Hay Festival 2013: Philip Glass, review
Philip Glass spoke fascinatingly at the Hay Festival about his new Walt Disney opera and working with Martin Scorsese, says Sameer Rahim.
The composer Philip Glass is attracted to great men. In the last 40 years he has produced operas about Einstein, Galileo and Gandhi; now he has tackled that American icon Walt Disney, in a production that has its British stage premiere in London tonight (June 1), at English National Opera. It was generous of him, therefore, to take the time to visit the Telegraph Hay Festival on Friday to discuss The Perfect American, and to play the piano for a full hour.
"I’m attracted to people who have their feet in the clay and their head in the clouds,” said Glass. He was inspired to write the opera by reading a fictionalised biography of the creator of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck by German author Peter Stephan Jungk. John Berry, the artistic director of ENO, who joined him on stage, described the opera as a “fascinating, subversive portrayal”. which imagines, among other things, a meeting between Disney and Andy Warhol. (Had Glass known Warhol? “Of course, we were in New York at the same time,” Glass replied insouciantly.) Though Glenn Beck, among others, has lambasted him for demeaning Walt, Glass was at pains to point out it is by no means an unsympathetic portrayal.
Glass is as well known for his film scores as he is for his operas. He spoke about working with Martin Scorsese on Kundun and also with Woody Allen, who allowed him artistic free reign in placing his music where he wished. The joy of artistic collaboration is a theme he also picked up on in Disney’s life: Walt could not draw Mickey or Donald especially well, and needed other artists to bring his vision to life.
He was fascinating on the way he perfected his own music-making. For years he learnt a Bach chorale every week, but the rhythm of the city he lived in, New York, was also vital. “I wouldn’t have been able to write this music in Kansas,” he said.
He played three pieces. Mad Rush, a 14-minute piece in honour of the Dalai Lama, some of his etudes and Metamorphosis. Known as a repetitive, minimalist composer, Glass also has an ear for a catchy riff.
Certainly you could not describe him as dissonant. It was a shame that anyone sitting in the front row was disturbed by fuzzy sound projection from the speakers; but there was ample compensation in seeing Glass run his fingers with such loving attention over his own keys.
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