Customer Reviews

Glass: Satyagraha

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As part of a trilogy of 'portrait operas,' Glass tells us in the liner notes that each opera deliberately has a different flavor. "Einstein on the Beach" had an electronic, mathematical and tense feel. "Akhnaten," a floating yet grand orchestral quality and this, "Satyagraha," then, is somewhere in between with a very sparsely orchestrated, contemplative design. So sparse and light is the music here, that much of the opera utilizes one section of the orchestra at a time playing unison harmonies. Was this deliberate, or did Glass simply not feel comfortable writing for orchestra after writing for the Glass ensemble? Well, that's debateable but for my money, I think "Satyagraha's" terseness deliberate and spectacular.

So why do I say this opera is 'unjustly ignored'? Well, there are two types of Glass fans. First, the hard minimalists who like most of the Glass ensemble's electronic works, like Einstein and Music for Twelve Parts. Then, there are the newer Glass fans, who like his more traditional, orchestral works, like the Low Symphony and his film scores. The problem is that "Satyagraha" is the pivot between the two and has alienated both fans. It is very close to Glass's earlier style in it's insistent repititon with slight variations that the will bore the orchestral fans but the Glass ensemble fans will feel cheated by the warm orchestral touch. So this great opera has fallen through the cracks by defying categorization in the Glass repitoire.

To confess my bias, I am much more a fan of Glass's old style (Yes, I've listened to Einstein straight through!). This opera, though, has one thing that neither of the other two (or, god help us, his chamber opera) have is a certain purity. Here, Glass is a orchestra novice and as such, is very conservative, keeping many techniques of the Glass ensemble and adding to them the warmth of violins, strings and operatic vocal (no percussion.) In the later acts, we do hear foreshadowing of his emerging orchestral future, but it is much more authentic than Akhnaten. I stronly reccomend that Glass fans, of old and new, listen because there is much here for both to appreciate.

This is undoubtedly the best of Philip Glass' trilogy of 'biography' operas. The recording - achieved through overdubbing with original cast and orchestra - makes for a sound which is both magnificent, metronomic and transfixing. It's what "Einstein on the Beach" promises, and "Aknahten" glances back over the shoulder towards. As these three works are probably the best of all Glass' work, and most honest to his original intentions, this comparison should say it all.

My own personal entirely subjective ranking, if there must be such an abominable thing, places "Einstein on the Beach" as Glass's #1 opera, "Akhnaten" as #2, and "Satyagraha" as #3.

(I've never gotten much into any of his many subsequent operas; I have tried here and there, but they do not appeal to me yet; perhaps they will begin to reach me after a few more years).

That being said, Satyagraha is very very good. The music is an expansion into orchestral space, of his earlier trademark idioms. The singing is wonderful. The libretto is wonderful too.

I think it marks a turning point or watershed, because it was his first step towards turning away from being totally experimental and "new"; it was his first excursion (totally different than "Einstein") into large-scale use of the traditional opera technology, e.g. orchestra and trained operatic singers.

I think he then perfected this use, of the traditional opera orchestra and operatic singers, in "Akhnaten"; but "Satyagraha" is still very very good as I said.

This is one of the most beautiful operas of the century, as well as one of the most original. Glass uses a more conventional orchestra than his usual ensemble (such as that used in Einstein on the Beach) although there are no high strings.

Much more approachable than Einstein or Akhnaten.

Also worth checking out are the operas: Nixon in China (Adams), Four Saints in Three Acts (Thomson).

Revivals of Staygraha have been rare over the past twenty years or so, but the Met has announced that it will bring the work to New York next season, transferring a magnificent 2007 production from the English National Opera. The reviews here at Amazon say misleading things one way and another, but in general the praise for this extremely minimalist work is deserved. On stage Satygraha is mesmerizing and profound, but it is also peculiar. First of all, nothing sung by the soloists or chorus pertains to Gandhi. The entire text comes from the Baghavad-Gita, and although the selections aren't extensive, Glass stretches them out, syllable by syllable, to great length. Chords are rudimentary, diatonic, and highyly repetitive. Melodies exist in a simple form and become transfixing by repetition more than intrinsic beauty (For example, Gandhi sings a simple scale passage at the end of Act 3 for ten minutes without alteration).

The events onstage are not directly related to the text but come from the earliest period in Gandhi's life when he was fighting against the so-called Black Acts that drastically restricted the personal freedom of Indians in South Africa. Only five or six events are indicated, and not all are momentous. In one instance, for example, an angry crowd was held at bay when the wife of the chief of police showed up while Gandhi was out for a walk and shielded him with her parasol. This symbolic show of sympahty dispersed the crowd. Presiding over each of the three acts is an inspiring spiritual figure: Tolstoy for the first act, the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore for the second, and Martin LUther King, Jr. for hte third. These figures neither sing nor speak.

Although called an opera, in performance Satyagraha comes off as a meditative, emotionally sobering theater piece, a ritualized happening that in the London production uses extensive special effects and stage devices. The brunt of the solo singing falls on Gandhi, sung by a baritone in London but here by a fairly taxed tenor from the NY City Opera. Minimalism is hard to sing in general: at one point the male chorus must sing one syllable (ah-ah-ah-ah) hundreds of times quickly, in unison, and without taking a breath. Although the performers here are up to the task, they seem strained, and in many ways the artificially bright overdubbing of the orchestra produces a false sound. In live performance Satyagraha is dominated by slow string lines and quick, chirping woodwinds. The sonority is basic but rich, not thin and squeaky as heard here.

So, as much as I was engrossed in the staged version in London, I am mildly disappointed by this CD set. I also wonder how a listener who doesn't have the advantage of visuals will respond to long stretches of what seems like sonic wallpaper. Leavig those questions aside, Satyagraha repays listening and is one of Glass's most convincing achievements.

Satyagraha contains some of Glass' most beautiful and powerful music, hauntingly melodious and intensely bizarre. The beginning (as well as the ending, if you get that far...) will stay with you forever. It was one of my greatest musical experiences of the mid-80's and still stands up well today, musically. However, with poor digital sound and ungenerously spread over 3 cd's, it comes in second to the no less powerful Akhnaten for those wanting a largescale Glasswork from his most creative period. (A new recording of Satyagraha is said to be forthcoming).

The subject in this beautifully, bizarre opera is the early life of Mahatma Gandhi and the text is a selection of verses from the Bhagavadgita, sung in the original Sanskrit and used as another strand in the complex repetitive web of sound. The result is undeniably repetitiveness, becoming static; a good deal of this conveys energy as well as power. The writing for the chorus is often thrilling, and individual characters emerge in only a shadowy way. The recording, using the device of over dubbing, is spectacular.
This is one of my favorites in the realm of "Glass" works.

I first heard a production of this opera on the radio back in 1987. I did not hear the title, but kept switching the radio back to the music, and finally I became hooked by it. I never learned the title, but called the Opera Company last month to find out what it was. With a little detective work we came up with Satyagraha, and I now own the CD. It is haunting, enchanting music that you'll not soon forget. Read the story before listening. Glass is a genius at blending musicians with vocal ensembles.

This was the first Glass CD I picked up, and I still find it immensely powerful and quite moving. It seems to divide long time Glass admirers, and honestly I don't know why. I feel an appreciation for Glass's earlier music, and I like the later stuff as well. I feel that this opera is one of his most majestic, moving ones. It usually gets dismissed by people as a "transitional" work, but it doesn't mean it's a lousy work. Many of the segments are truly outstanding, like the final third of the opening Scene 1-Tolstoy. When the orchestra starts to swirl right around the 11 minute mark (or so), then kicks into a startling powerful conclusion, to this day it gives me the shivers because it's so sincere and genuine. I also love the first scene in Act II-Tagore. It's not as powerful as Scene One-Act I-Tolstoy, but it's still hypnotic. This opera recently was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC in a brand new staging. I didn't get to see it (mucho dinero, and the cheap seats were all gone instantly), but if it ever comes back, I will, hell or high water, as I never had been to the opera before. I would love to see, arguably, my favorite of Glass's operatic works. I think this is better than Akhaten, and just as good (though not as radical) as the avant garde Einstein on the Beach.

I have never met a Philip Glass album I didn't like.

This work is perhaps Glass' greatest achievement. It represents the last large-scale work he wrote before the decline (or withering) of his hard-edge minimalist period (this decline starting with Ahknaten). The recording is exciting both in terms of it's production sound and concept. The singers are of good quality -- at least in terms of those who sing Glass. I would highly recommend this recording as well as _La Belle et la Bete_ for those who are looking for an extension of Einstein.