satyagraha

friday, i went to see the metropolitan opera's production of "satyagraha" - an opera based on gandhi's non-violence movement. (thanks for the ticket v & n) some facts to know - the opera is sung in sanskrit - a language that is largely out of use, save for a few pandits in india. there are no subtitles, because the composer felt they would be distracting. and philip glass, said composer, uses a lot of repetition, scale-y sort of music. and, the length is close to four hours. as you can tell, my experience was a little less than stellar. i admire anybody that tries to do something different in south asian arts, especially on a stage as prestigious at the met. so, in that sense, to see the met sold out for this was awesome. still, i really think this is almost a missed opportunity. the "language barrier" that is created by the sanskrit chanting, repeatedly, without any comprehension was just too much to bear for so long. sure it was beautiful singing, but at one point, you really feel like you need to have more than a general sense of what's being said. parts of the staging were magnificent - the giant puppets, the use of newspaper - but other parts - the tape, the tape - was just plain annoying because of the length and pace. i realize the show is intended to invoke a "feeling" rather than a particular set of events, but still.... as it ended, the audience rose in the longest standing o i've ever been a part of it and this is what the nyt made of it, and i couldn't agree more.

"To some degree the ovation at the end, after a 3-hour-45-minute evening, was necessary. The audience had to let loose after all that contemplation."