PHILIP GLASS (b. 1937)
Satyagraha
Act II: Rabindranath Tagore
Scene 1 - Confrontation and Rescue (1896)
Performed by the New York City Opera Chorus & New York City Opera Orchestra
Conducted by Christopher Keene
www.philipglass.com/
*Satyagraha (English pronunciation: /sʌtˈjɑːɡrəhə/, Sanskrit satyāgraha "insistence on truth") is an opera in three acts for orchestra, chorus and soloists, composed by Philip Glass, with a libretto by Glass and Constance de Jong. The opera is loosely based on the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi, and is the second part of Glass's "Portrait Trilogy" of operas about men who changed the world, which also includes Einstein on the Beach and Akhnaten. Philip Glass's style can broadly be described as minimalist, but the music in Satyagraha is somewhat more expansive than is implied by that label. The cast of the opera includes 2 sopranos, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 2 tenors, a baritone and 2 basses and a large SATB chorus. The orchestra is strings and woodwinds only, no brass or percussion.
The title of the opera refers to Gandhi's concept of non-violent resistance to injustice, Satyagraha, and the text, from the Bhagavad Gita, is sung in the original Sanskrit. In performance, translation is usually provided in supertitles. As the passages are generally repeated, the DVD provides the full text at the beginning of each scene.
Satyagraha was commissioned by the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands, and was first performed at the Stadsschouwburg (Municipal Theatre) there on September 5, 1980 by the Netherlands Opera and the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Bruce Ferden.