Satyagraha 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 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.
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 Christopher Keene.
Philip Glass website
A review from The Sunday times
A mere 27 years after its world premiere in Rotterdam, Philip Glass’s Gandhi opera Satyagraha has finally been staged in London. It has taken the sixtieth anniversary of Indian independence, a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and substantial support from Sky Arts (which dedicates an evening to Glass next Saturday) to bring it about. On the first night, standing ovations greeted the 70-year-old composer as he took his bow.
Full review
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