Glass fans may find the title of this three-CD collection from Sony a little presumptuous, lacking as it does any of Glass’s “essential” recordings for Nonesuch Records (Koyaanisqatsi, Mishima, Music In Twelve Parts, any of the symphonies or string quartets). However, the Sony catalog does include the trio of so-called “portrait operas” — Einstein On The Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten — as well as such emblematic works as Songs From Liquid Days and Glassworks, all of which are effectively excerpted here. Someone could quibble with the selections and sequencing, but of course that’s always part of the fun of any best-of collection. This someone wishes they’d included “Confrontation” from Satyagraha, and that “Tolstoy Farm” from that opera appeared before the closing “Evening Song,” since the latter is based on the principal orchestral line in the former. But in the main, the high points of all three operas are here, and those with neither the time nor the inclination nor the download credits to get the full operas will be well served by these excerpts.

One of the subtexts of the music is the collaborative nature of Glass’s art. In that respect, this collection lives… read more »