Day: November 26, 2013

Satyagraha: Phillip Glass: English National Opera: Review

Following the early life of Gandhi in South Africa and his non violent campaigning against segregation and racism and named after his word for Non-violence (for which there is no word in any language in the whole word, which is worth noting.) This Opera by Phillip Glass is formed of three mains segments each taking a long and visually dreamlike look at Gandhi’s life but also at the people who inspired, helped, supported and worked with him. Tolstoy, Tagore and Martin Luther King guide the three sections of the work and also the development and maturity of both the principals of Satyagraha as a non violent form of resistance and also its musical principals as presented by Glass.

They are not always easy to tease out in direct personality but the overall effect, and one that mounts throughout this work is of a progression of cooperative thought and action towards a better world, facing struggle with dignity and numbers and always choosing the non violent path. The music mirrors and echoes this tension between aggression and non violent movement and action.   It often made no sense to me at all, not helped by the fact that it’s sung in Sanskrit and there are no surtitles, but this just added to the dreamlike and ritualistic properties of the night.  The text is projected onto the stage for this production and becomes a filmatic part of the action.

Satyagraha is instilled with theatrical flair by the award-winning director designer partnership of Improbable’s Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch and they weave a utterly transfixing account of this complex life with its bare and simple meaning and vision. The use of puppets and silt walking actors and dancers, simplistic repetitive props which writhe and transform into battling giants or huge disturbing animals, the suggestions of city and oppressive oligarchies with a sneering, menacing almost Terry Gillingham surrealist edge is impressive and convincing. The constant feeling of both stillness and movement is kept in a contradictory balance  at the heart of the action. It’s not an easy thing to write about nor to digest as fact, it’s all metaphor, shadow, suggestion and oddness, but the overall effect is beautiful, Although sometimes unsettlingly so.

The music is pure Glass, but I felt that there was more room in this opera for the singers and rather than regulate them to supporting roles for once Glass has presented them out front, in full parity with the music and sometimes even guiding it, I was impressed by the subtle and often convoluted ways in which the singers and the music met at repeated moments of joint emotional clarity and I felt convinced for the first time that there was a deeper level to the often mechanical and empirical dissections of Glass’s music.

Alan Oke’s portrayal of Gandhi is so completely humble and convincing  that it doesn’t matter  that he’s singing in Sanskrit, he’s believable and compelling and carries the work on his immensely dignified shoulders and his lyrical tenor voice. Clare Eggington as Ghandi’s secretary Miss Schlesen was astonishing too, her voice rising up into the highest ranges and giving and sharp ethereal edge to the combined singing, I was enchanted by her.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen the ENO chorus work so hard as I did tonight, they are superb, on top form,  venting their contempt and rage or offering supreme almost angelic support they are triumphant in their clear and mesmerising voice.

Stuart Stratford conducted with pure mathematical precision allowing the music to delicately unfold like an ancient origami secret box and the orchestra were like a ruthless finely oiled machine from the first note to the last.

The second act is spectacular in more ways than one. Visually it’s astonishing, blending and weaving itself with an endless sense of movement, representing the public support for Gandhi in the press this was opera at its best. I was transfixed as the second part rose to its crescendo and with the projections, movement of actors, changing lighting effects and full of force of voice and music from the singers at the front of the stage, I learned to love Phillip Glass for the first time. I’ve seen a few of his works and never really loved any of them, they are interesting granted, but I’ve never found the core of passion hinted at in the music, but this convinced me and I allowed myself to relax and sit in entertained awe at this section of the opera.

The third act is a slow wind down, with a few highlight from the ever delightful Chorus but a lot of very very slow progressions and acting, after the intense  brilliant heat of the second section if felt a little empty and I had to breath and keep myself calm and remind myself of its meditative meaning. I reminded myself a few times… It’s a long trek though and even with its meditative central theme and endlessly repeated patterns and lurches the third act is a little too long for me, but then I’ve never been too patient with Mr Glass and his infinite variations.

Book now it’s a superb night, utterly divine; but be warned this is not an east work to enjoy and I’d suggest just the slightest bit of reading up on the synopsis and ideas behind this Opera, and then with a little knowledge let yourself in for a wonderful night of quite unforgettable entrainment. You’ll not leave humming the tunes, but you will be both thrilled and stilled by this superb ENO production.

What: Satyagraha

Where: English National Opera, London Coliseum, St Martins Lane, London

When: Until December 8: Tue 26, Wed 4, Dec, Fri 6 and Sun 8.

Running time: 3hrs 10mins

For more info or to book tickets see the ENO website here: