From The Metropolitan Opera:
Philip Glass wrote his third opera, the seminal Satyagraha, in 1979. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s formative years in South Africa and the development of his philosophy, the work has its Met premiere on 11 April in a new production by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch. The 70-year-old composer, a veteran of 20 operas, told the Met’s Elena Park what moved him to address the subject-and what Gandhi’s message can teach us today.
Q:What does the concept of satyagraha mean to you now?
Being inspired by social change through non-violence was authentic. I can identify with that idea as strongly today as I did when I wrote the opera. I was in my 40s at that time, so I wasn’t like a kid. But I’m in a very different place now. For one thing, I’ve seen the world change in a dramatic and not particularly good way. We’re in a more desperate situation than we were 30 years ago.
[Photo: Drawing from the Bhagavad Gita, the opera opens on a mythical battlefield where two royal families prepare to wage a fierce war.]
[via Mint]
And here, Mahatma Gahdhi’s granddaughter Ela Gandhi talks about his legacy, her family’s work on Indian Opinion, the newspaper founded by Gandhi, and her own youth in South Africa.Do you think an opera about satyagraha can educate and enlighten?
Q: Do you think an opera about satyagraha can educate and enlighten?
Music, opera, drama, and other forms of art convey feelings and reflect the times. While words can express things openly and in a way that people can easily understand, the arts express the same things in a more subtle way. Over the years many great poets, musicians, and dancers all expressed their feelings about societal issues and it made an impact on the community.
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