Once, on an exhausting tour, Icelandic pianist ended up in a hotel. The tour group also included the composer . At midnight the composer ordered champagne. The tour took place exactly when Philip Glass turned 77 years old. To everyone's surprise, the composer then also ordered a large cup of black coffee. A few decades earlier, Glass had regularly worked long shifts as a taxi driver in New York.
Due to time constraints, he had learned the routine of composing at least five hours a day, in the middle of the night if necessary. That is why he withdrew to compose until the early morning hours. Vikingur Ólafsson plays a selection from the Etudes, composed by Glass in the period 1991-2012. The CD ends with Opening from Glassworks, here arranged for piano and string quartet. (HJ)more
