By Heidi Waleson [WSJ, 24 November 2009]

Say “Philip Glass” and “opera,” and most listeners will think of the composer’s enormous, slowly unfolding early works like “Einstein on the Beach” (1976) and “Satyagraha” (1980). Yet many of Mr. Glass’s operas (there are more than 20) are smaller-scale chamber pieces based on source materials ranging from the films of Jean Cocteau to Grimm’s fairy tales.