Musical reviews: Satyagraha, M. K. Gandhi in South Africa
Satyagraha – M. K. Gandhi in South Africa
An opera in three acts by Philip Glass performed by the English National Opera (ENO) at the London Coliseum, Summer 2007.
Adapted from the text of the Bagavada Gita by Constance De Jong. Book by Philip Glass and Constance De Jong.
After last season’s spectacular performance of John Adams’ Nixon in China, one might be forgiven for having great expectations of ENO in this genre.
The Glass score did not disappoint, as a dazzling work of passionate and mystical intensity, with a worthy performance of it by the orchestra under Johannes Debus.
This production of Satyagraha though, had some serious structural flaws, both in the interpretation of the work as articulated artistically, as well as in the casting and performances by the soloists.
In general, there was a poor balance of forces between the soloists and the orchestra, with the soloists completely overwhelmed at times. While the props and set were indeed impressive, they sometimes seemed to lack any meaningful connection with the fundamental point of the work or indeed with Gandhi himself.
The first scene of Act I, titled “The Kuru Field of Justice,” represented a great battle between good and evil, introducing the central tenet of Gandhi’s concept of Satyagraha as a response to tyranny. This was strikingly visualised by the use of monumental props doing battle.
Alan Oke delivered an impressive performance as Gandhi. He seemed perfectly cast in the role and sang close to perfection. His performance lacked intensity at some points though, where the orchestra and colossal props tended to dominate.
James Gower, as Parsi Rustomji, was at times completely drowned-out by the orchestra and at some points looked like a mime artist.
By scene two members of the audience feeling slightly bewildered by the lack of focus or clear articulation of voice or plot got a bit of a jolt, as Elena Xanthoudakis’ (Miss Schlesen) finally managed to rise fully, but shrilly above the orchestra.
Then Jean Rigby’s Mrs Alexander rose up all in dazzling white, pitch perfect, resplendent, rampant even, but only to be drowned out almost completely by orchestra and chorus.
