Philip Glass : Satyagraha
The Skills Ensemble
Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Dante Anzolini
I've only seen one other Glass opera live, and for reasons which had nothing to do with the music or performance, that turned out to be a disaster, so I was glad to get the opportunity to get another shot at his stage work. I was also interested in comparing it to John Adams's Nixon in China, seen last season - not musically, but in terms of how both pieces worked as operas, or theatrical events, from two of the foremost representatives of what used to be known as "minimalist" music.
There's very little comparison, actually. Adams's opera is much more traditionally structured; it has a linear plot, it has numbers, and it has a comprehensible libretto. Glass's opera is a non-linear sequence of scenes, even snapshots, its libretto is in Sanskrit (I don't envy the singers that job!), and is more or less completely disconnected from whatever narrative there may be. There was very little subtitling going on from the Met today, but that's just as well, because the libretto is more a reflection on the inner thoughts of the characters than a description of anything exterior that might be happening. It's perhaps because of this that this piece has benefitted from a (relatively) new production, whereas Nixon hadn't.
Phelim McDermott's production took a while to get warmed up, and the first act left me cold, but from the second onwards, things got a lot more interesting. The staging was a horseshoe of corrugated iron panels, that could withdraw to reveal openings and windows as required, while the floor was layered with newsprint. The written word was a major feature, with some of the translations of the libretto being projected, large-scale, onto the scenery, instead of confined to the surtitle bar, and sheets of newspaper making regular appearances throughout.
Strange creatures, like giant papier maché puppets, also made eerie appearances, outstandingly manipulated by the artists of the Skills Ensemble. The most powerful image of all also came from this combination of puppeteers and newsprint, at the end of the second act's central scene, the "rolling of the presses" orchestral sequence, where hugely long strips of newsprint were gathered into a roiling mass at the back of the stage, a bizarre and beautiful tentacled monster, and an extraordinary evocation of the power - good and bad - of the press in terms of propaganda, perfectly adapted to the music at that point.
Like much of Glass's earlier work, it is only just possible to identify soloists. Apart from Gandhi himself (the tenor Richard Croft), there are very few true solo moments, and the other singers are simply voices in an ensemble, rather than actual characters. The important thing is therefore that they can all sing their parts accurately (and I would think learning any full-length Glass score can be a real headache), and perform with conviction, and that the conductor is able to hold it all together, On that point, it was my impression that everything went like clockwork tonight, under the baton of Dante Anzolini, a new name to me, but apparently a regular collaborator of Glass's. Richard Croft sang as expressively as allowed by the score and the text, very focused and persuasive, and quietly authoritative, perfectly apt for the personage depicted.
I still think that Satyagraha is not quite as good a piece as either Einstein on the Beach (which, admittedly, rather defies description) or Akhnaten (which I would also very much like to see), but this was as convincing a reading as could be wished.
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