Open to Interpretation

It was so hard to sit and class on Thursday and not discuss the artistic aspects of Glass’s Satyagraha because the marriage between the visual and audio for this opera is paramount. In general, I really enjoyed Glass’s opera, so if I happen use words that have negative connotations, I mean the in the most positive way possible. Watching the Freyer’s version of Satyagraha reminded me of a trippy nightmare that you didn’t want to wake up from. The work moved so slowly and the music was extremely repetitive, but I found myself mesmerized by any subtle change. The opera was similar to watching a flower bloom; you don’t realize it is blossoming until it is fully open. The smallest changes fascinated me, whether it was a dynamic change in the music or a change of movement. This made me realize there is a plethora of ways that this opera could be performed because it relies so heavily on the visual aesthetic to propel the music forward.

Let me begin by saying that I have had very minimal exposure to Glass and his works. With that said, my first thought for his opera would be to use it for film. This is rather ironic considering his music has been used in films, which I discovered during my You Tube escapes, and thus started listening to some of his other works. I listened to clips form The Truman Show and The Illusionist and it is unequivocally Glass. Now that I have been exposed to his music I’m noticing that he has a very distinct sound. Hence, I it made me feel slightly justified in my film idea for Satyahraha. Potentially, the music could act as a soundtrack to a documentary about Gandhi or it could act as a silent film. Let me clarify. I feel like the actions that occur in Freyer’s version are so profound because of the subtlety in change. Yet, I thought the movement of the singers’ mouths disrupted the stillness in some of the scenes. I realize this is an odd statement since it is an opera. However, if you portrayed this opera on film, you could have motions and a story line without words with the music acting as a soundtrack, propelling the motion forward. I suppose Tim Burton and I need to work out some kinks before hitting the big screen!

Another thought that found it’s way into my brain was the idea of performing it like a Cirque du Soleil performance. Many of the Cirque du Soleil shows have a story line and some of the music incorporated into the performance is very repetitive. Moreover, approaching it in this way takes on a whole different element regarding the visual realm because Satyagraha would be propelled kinesthetically. Also, I think you could take this to another level, similar to Kurt Weil’s portrayal of Anna in The Seven Deadly Sins. Gandhi could be represented as two people; the motionless singer and the silent interpreter of motion. I think that Glass leaves the director a lot of room for stage interpretation because he leaves little room for change in the music.