About this Event
A unique performance at a unique space!
Music by Philip Glass from Einstein on the Beach, Koyaanisqatsi, and The Hours, arranged for piano by renowned pianist and composer Anton Batagov, the only musician in the world to play a solo piano version of these works, plus Distant Figure, a composition written for and premiered by Batagov.
An exquisite, intimate space with a restored 1908 Steinway.
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Prophecies (1982). The main theme from Koyaanisqatsi, a film directed by Godfrey Reggio
Distant Figure (Passacaglia for piano) (2017). A composition written for Anton Batagov
The Hours (2002). Music from The Hours, a film directed by Stephen Daldry
- The Poet Acts
- Morning Passages
- Something She Has to Do
- I'm Going to Make a Cake
- Dead Things
- Why Does Someone Have to Die?
- Tearing Herself Away
- Escape!
- The Hours
Night Train (1975)
Knee 5 (1975)
Two scenes from Einstein on the Beach, an opera created by Philip Glass, Robert Wilson, and Lucinda Childs
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Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
No intermission
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ANTON BATAGOV
Composer/Pianist
Composer and pianist Anton Batagov is one of the most influential and iconic figures in the world of new classics. His discography includes over 60 albums. He plays on the world's most prestigious stages. His compositions have been performed and recorded by outstanding classical and rock musicians and orchestras. The philosophy of Batagov's projects eliminates any boundaries between performance and composition by viewing all existing musical practices — from ancient rituals to rock and pop culture, and advanced computer technologies — as inseparable elements of his own practice.
Anton Batagov is one of the closest collaborators of Philip Glass, one of the key performers of his music. He had been touring internationally with Glass for almost a decade. His Glass albums – The complete Etudes, Prophecies (Batagov's piano arrangements of scenes from Einstein on the Beach and Koyaanisqatsi), and The Hours / Distant figure (a composition written by Philip Glass for and premiered by Anton Batagov) – have received critical recognition, thousands of sales, and millions of streams.
As a composer, Batagov has his own unique voice. The post-minimalist language of his compositions is rooted in the harmonic and rhythmic patterns of Russian church bells mixed with the spirit of Buddhist philosophy, the dynamic pulse of early Soviet avant-garde, and the energy of progressive rock. Batagov is the author of several movie soundtracks and original music for several television channels.
From 1997 to 2009, Batagov stopped his concert activity to focus on recording and composition. Since 2009, he has been performing a series of unique solo piano programs. His repertoire includes contemporary classics and great composers of the past. Along with the music of John Cage, Morton Feldman, Philip Glass, and Michael Nyman, Batagov performs Bach, Pachelbel, early English music, Mozart, Schubert, Debussy, and many other composers, as well as his own numerous piano compositions.
Mr. Batagov has performed at Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles), Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York), Jordan Hall (Boston), Bing Concert Hall (Palo Alto, CA), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), The Berliner Philharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Musiikkitalo (Helsinki), Reduta Hall (Bratislava), Teatro Regio (Parma, Italy), Palau de la Musica Catalana (Barcelona, Spain), The Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory, The Grand Hall of St.Petersburg Philharmonie, Moscow International House of Music, Zaryadye Hall, and many other venues. The list of festivals he has participated in includes the Salzburg Festival (Austria), the Diaghilev Festival (Russia), the Ruhrtriennale (Germany), Next Wave and Bang on a Can festivals (New York), Aarhus Festival (Denmark), and others.
"Brilliantly hypnotizing."
(Los Angeles Times)
"His performance transcends the material world."
(Crescendo magazine, Germany)
"Anton Batagov is a mystic of the piano. Part shaman and part showman, beneath his fingers, the keys of the keyboard reveal another world, another layer of spiritual energy, and another way of listening."
(Time Out New York magazine)
"Batagov shakes up our notion of what a solo piano recital can sound like."
(The Gathering Note, Seattle)
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My Glass Story
A Note By Anton Batagov
When I heard music by Philip Glass for the first time in the late 80s, something happened to me. Something changed. At that point, I was a pianist with some special passion for contemporary modernist music. I was in my early 20s, and I was already the first Russian pianist to perform and record Olivier Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'Enfant Jesus – a huge piano work, over two and a half hours long. At the same time, I was in love with progressive rock, and with electronic minimalist music (Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, etc), and I was making my first steps as a composer. And then I heard Koyaanisqatsi and Einstein on the Beach, and I felt something like "that's how the world sounds".
First, I realized that as a composer I would go in a minimalist direction. Second, I realized that as a pianist, I must play this music. There was one problem: it was not written for the piano. Well, I have always regretted that all the music I loved most was not written for piano. So, just to repair this injustice, I decided to make a solo piano transcription of Glass's masterpieces to include them in my concert programs.
When you hear the sound of Philip Glass Ensemble, it doesn't seem possible to make a solo piano version. Yes, of course, it is definitely not possible to play all the notes with only two hands. However, the piano has its own inner magic that helps forget that this music was originally written for several performers. So since then, I have played these piano arrangements many times, and made a recording of them, as well as the complete Piano Etudes, also a two-and-a-half-hour cycle.
I met Philip Glass in person in 1992 in New York. Communicating and being friends with him is a very important part of my life. He is not just a great composer. He is a unique personality. He never tried to do what was fashionable, never tried to do anything to entertain the audience. On the contrary, he found his true voice and became a composer whose music is loved all over the world. Communicating with him is like communicating with a guru, a teacher in the philosophical sense of the word. His view of the world and music is unique. He has an amazing sense of humor. You never know what he's going to say because his thoughts and reactions are always paradoxical. He calls me "my friend", even though I am 30 years younger. We have performed together many times in America and Europe. Going on stage with him is a very special feeling: it's like playing with Bach or Beethoven.
On this program, in addition to his music from the opera Einstein on the Beach and films Koyaanisqatsi and The Hours, I will play a piano piece called Distant Figure (Passacaglia for piano). Maestro Glass wrote it for me and for a legendary dancer/choreographer, Lucinda Childs, in 2017. I played it for the first time that same year, and the recording came out in 2018. A few years later, Lucinda made a choreography based on this composition, and it became a part of a large project in which I played live on stage together with dancers.
Anton Batagov, October 2025
www.batagov.com
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Klavierhaus, 790 11th Avenue, New York, United States
USD 75.91
