"That whole third act has got to go..."

Last night was Satyagraha at ENO.

Philip Glass has done lots of good work. His obsession with triplets means that if you play me some, I can go 'oh, that's Glass' but also means, with a few exceptions, I can't say which piece.

For me, Satyagraha is not his best opera, because it's too uneven.

Act one is a B, act two is A with the first scene ('Confrontation and Rescue', AKA - by me at least - 'ah-ha-ha') A+, but act three is D at best (the 'ba-ba-ba' section I'm not sure has a proper name) and most of it is E ('here's a scale I like a lot, look, it goes up and down, up and down, up and down...')

So, especially as it was being directed by Improbable, I had to see it, but did I have to see all of it?

And the answer is.. ( Read more... )