“In the 1960s, composer Philip Glass was inspired by a trip to India where he learned of Gandhi’s energy and moral courage. This led to the composition of Satyāgraha (1979), a minimalist opera about justice and peace, and a spiritual leader who changed the course of history.

Civil rights activist Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) became the figurehead of India’s anti-colonial resistance. He encouraged his followers to protest peacefully with an attitude he named ‘satyāgraha’, meaning, in sanskrit, holding insistently to the truth. The original sanskrit libretto by Constance DeJong draws from the ancient scripture Bhagavad Gita. It builds parallels between mythological struggles from Hinduism and Gandhi's own struggles during his early years in South Africa.

This shortened version of Glass’s opera is performed by MA students from the Academy of Opera, and BA contemporary dance students from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, and the sinfonietta of Norwegian Academy of Music. The projected text is developed by students from the Department of Musicology, University of Oslo, and acts as a counter-libretto to DeJong's original text. Glass’s cyclic, repetitive music blends solo voices with synthesizers, strings and woodwinds. In this special staging with dance and video, physical movements interweave with music and text in a continuous flow. Time is suspended, inviting to a meditation on Ghandi’s message, and the meaning that various forms of resistance might have today.”

from ultima.no

Libretto: Philip Glass, Constance DeJong

Director and choreographer: Anne-Linn Akselsen

Conductor and musical director: Magnus Loddgard

Assistant conductor: Thomas Nettle

Soloists from MA Opera, KHIO Oslo National Academy of the Arts:
Soprano: Hannah Edmunds, Guro Thronæs-Sivertsen
Mezzo-soprano: Mathilda Goike, Solvi Skogstad
Tenor: Jonathan Bjørnseth
Barytone: Eric Korsnes, Mattis Austrheim
Bass: Ulrik Stensrød
Musical guidance: Luca de Marchi.

Dancers from BA Contemporary Dance, KHIO Oslo National Academy of the Arts:
2nd year BA: Elida Solberg Bakke, Elias Elvegaard, Iris Agata Engeness, Live Karlsen, Laura Lihua Nilsen, Bartlomiej Widerski, Abraham Geoffrey Winsnes, Carolina Rocha

3rd year BA: Lea Amneby Snickars, Julie Louise Berg Bjelke, Silas Manuel da Silva Roller, Ella Eidstad Pedersen, Anna Katrine, Langer Schou, Hedda Stokland, Anton Skaaning Thomsen, Aron Tweve, Johannes Gudbrandsen-Stavland, Andrea María ólafsdóttir

Musicians:
Musikkhøgskolens sinfonietta, the Norwegian Academy of Music

Répétiteur: Thomas Nettle, Marina Kan Selvik, Simona Malerba

Contextualization: Magnus Loddgard, Heloisa Amaral, Lucia d’Errico,

With students from the Department of Musicology, University of Oslo: Teresa Mantorski, Anne Christina Olaussen, Trond Hallvard Engeset Kverno, Kasper Kvandal, Henrik Hagen Johnsen

Photographer: Erik Maxim Kronda

Thank you to the Oslo Opera House and Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival 2024