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Rating: 
Summary: Terrible quality DVD - better listen only to the CD
Review: I had great expectations for this DVD. I just love the opera, and wanted the visuals to make the experience greater.
And what a let-down !The quality of the video is horrible (it skips from time to time, and it is not the DVD skipping), the image is sometimes blurry and sloppy, the camera takes are rather bad, never really showing the whole action on stage or specific important details.
The image is also too dark. The orchestra interprets the music in a horrible way, or at least the audio in the DVD makes them sound like a junior high school children orchestra. I'm sorry, maybe a high school orchestra plays better. Being a real Philip Glass fanatic this DVD is just worth throwing away or getting your money back. Just buy any other DVD !!
Rating: 
Summary: A New Perspective
Review: I have long been a Philip Glass fan and have heard the Philip Glass Ensemble in concert on a number of occasions, however this is the first opportunity I have had to witness a Glass opera. I have the region 2 version (ordered from Amazon.de) and Achim Freyer's 1983 production brings a new perspective to the music which I have listened to for years. Visually it is stunning and the set design and setpieces are amazing. The direction is superb allowing us to see the complexity of the production in a way which would not have been aparent to the live audience. The quality of the picture is grainy in places and a dolby remix would have been nice (the only audio option is PCM stereo) however this does not substantially detract from the enjoyment of the piece. The DVD booklet is adequate although I for one would have been interested in reading more about the concepts behind the set design. Subtitling is available in a number of languages. Interestingly when this production was shown on UK television in 1983 it produced the lowest viewing figures in the history of Channel 4 television ! There may in the future be a better quality DVD production of this opera, however for the quality of this particular performance, this is an obvious must-have for Glass fans.
Rating: 
Summary: The original Achim Freyer production in Stuttgart was great
Review: Since the DVD has not yet been released I cannot speak to the quality of this release, but I have seen the production of Satyagraha that is presented on this disk. In the summer of 1990 I traveled to Stuttgart to see the Philip Glass "Trilogy" of operas; Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Achnaten. Though I believe this performance was recorded some years before I saw it. All were by East German producer Achim Freyer. Satyagraha was an unusual but brilliant presentation. There are three performers playing Gandhi, one sings while the others share various acting and gymnastic roles such as walking along a narrow lighted beam which extends over the orchestra pit. Freyer uses images that are contemporary to his audience, which in this case is German and seemed a little peculiar to me at the time. An example of which is having German Police with motorcycle costumes come onto the stage rather than using costumes of South African police contemporary to Gandhi. It presents a certain harshness that I had not heard in listening to the music for so many years, however it worked very well and is a reminder that opera should address its audience, even when it's a new composition. My limited experience with German opera productions leads me to believe that love or hate a new production, it is sure to be original. US opera companies could learn from this. For Philip Glass fans such as myself the DVD is a "must have." I first started listening to Glass in the early eighties when the North Star sound track was released. I was fascinated by the originality of the music and when I wanted some privacy I could play the LP and my roommate, who liked pop "jazz" would get agitated and leave our dorm room. Satyagraha though is not agitating but rather beautiful. If the recording is good then I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in opera or contemporary serious music. I have pre-ordered my copy.
Rating:
Summary: The original Achim Freyer production in Stuttgart was great
Review: Since the DVD has not yet been released I cannot speak to the quality of this release, but I have seen the production of Satyagraha that is presented on this disk. In the summer of 1990 I traveled to Stuttgart to see the Philip Glass "Trilogy" of operas; Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Achnaten. Though I believe this performance was recorded some years before I saw it. All were by East German producer Achim Freyer. Satyagraha was an unusual but brilliant presentation. There are three performers playing Gandhi, one sings while the others share various acting and gymnastic roles such as walking along a narrow lighted beam which extends over the orchestra pit. Freyer uses images that are contemporary to his audience, which in this case is German and seemed a little peculiar to me at the time. An example of which is having German Police with motorcycle costumes come onto the stage rather than using costumes of South African police contemporary to Gandhi. It presents a certain harshness that I had not heard in listening to the music for so many years, however it worked very well and is a reminder that opera should address its audience, even when it's a new composition. My limited experience with German opera productions leads me to believe that love or hate a new production, it is sure to be original. US opera companies could learn from this. For Philip Glass fans such as myself the DVD is a "must have." I first started listening to Glass in the early eighties when the North Star sound track was released. I was fascinated by the originality of the music and when I wanted some privacy I could play the LP and my roommate, who liked pop "jazz" would get agitated and leave our dorm room. Satyagraha though is not agitating but rather beautiful. If the recording is good then I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in opera or contemporary serious music. I have pre-ordered my copy.
Rating: 
Summary: Avid Glass Fans only
Review: The music in this opera is superb, I have the soundtrack and listen to it often. Howerver, the sound quality is not just poor, the orchestra seems incapable of playing the music as it was meant to be (unlike the wonderfuly done soundtrack). The picture itself is also often grainy and too dark. Why then am I giving this three starts? Even poorly played, Glass's music is excellent, and the visual part of the opera is interesting. Since I am an avid Glass fan, I feel it was worth it to own a copy of this, but for others, I suggest getting the soundtrack, and then re-thinking buying this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Avid Glass Fans only
Review: The music in this opera is superb, I have the soundtrack and listen to it often. Howerver, the sound quality is not just poor, the orchestra seems incapable of playing the music as it was meant to be (unlike the wonderfuly done soundtrack). The picture itself is also often grainy and too dark. Why then am I giving this three starts? Even poorly played, Glass's music is excellent, and the visual part of the opera is interesting. Since I am an avid Glass fan, I feel it was worth it to own a copy of this, but for others, I suggest getting the soundtrack, and then re-thinking buying this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Great opera, poor quality DVD
Review: This DVD has already been released in Europe by Arthaus and it's very disappointing. It appears to be sourced from a video of a 1983 ZDF/C4 television co-production. The picture for the most part is passable, but the image is soft and unfocussed, dark backgrounds are grainy and colours are washed-out. Lights flare and trails of light are visible whenever white objects move around.
This television recording does not capture the event very well and fails to live up to still photographs I have seen of the Stuttgart production. It tries to capture as much of the production as possible by using frequent long shots, but the poor definition of the video means that all we can see under the bright stage lights are a blur where the performers should be. The music is PCM stereo, but this is rendered meaningless because of the poor quality of the source. The performance of the orchestra itself seems fine, although to be honest it is hard to tell because of the poor mix. There appears to be no stereo separation that I could make out and music and instruments dip in and out of the mix. A deep bass organ appears at intervals throughout the performance to fill in parts that the string section could not play, since there are very few breaks for them in the performance. It does not blend very well in this mix. There is also quite a bit of stage noise due to the use of so many props and there being so much activity going on during the performance.
The performance of the singers however is clearly excellent. Considering they have to sing long scenes in Sanskrit and have to perform in difficult circumstances - sometimes suspended from wires, the singing is strong and comes across very well. I couldn't recommend this disk to anyone who is not already familiar with the opera. However since the Stuttgart production itself is so unique and this TV recording is probably the only source available, the DVD has some value as a document of a rare production of the opera.
Rating:
Summary: Great opera, poor quality DVD
Review: This DVD has already been released in Europe by Arthaus and it's very disappointing. It appears to be sourced from a video of a 1983 ZDF/C4 television co-production. The picture for the most part is passable, but the image is soft and unfocussed, dark backgrounds are grainy and colours are washed-out. Lights flare and trails of light are visible whenever white objects move around.
This television recording does not capture the event very well and fails to live up to still photographs I have seen of the Stuttgart production. It tries to capture as much of the production as possible by using frequent long shots, but the poor definition of the video means that all we can see under the bright stage lights are a blur where the performers should be. The music is PCM stereo, but this is rendered meaningless because of the poor quality of the source. The performance of the orchestra itself seems fine, although to be honest it is hard to tell because of the poor mix. There appears to be no stereo separation that I could make out and music and instruments dip in and out of the mix. A deep bass organ appears at intervals throughout the performance to fill in parts that the string section could not play, since there are very few breaks for them in the performance. It does not blend very well in this mix. There is also quite a bit of stage noise due to the use of so many props and there being so much activity going on during the performance.
The performance of the singers however is clearly excellent. Considering they have to sing long scenes in Sanskrit and have to perform in difficult circumstances - sometimes suspended from wires, the singing is strong and comes across very well. I couldn't recommend this disk to anyone who is not already familiar with the opera. However since the Stuttgart production itself is so unique and this TV recording is probably the only source available, the DVD has some value as a document of a rare production of the opera.
Rating:
Summary: How To Ruin Great Art 101
Review: This DVD should be used in University courses to illustrate how an inept director can ruin a magnificent work of art. Satyagraha is, bar none, my favorite piece of music. I was delighted to find out that I'd finally be able to SEE the music that had given me pleasure for so many years. I managed to make it through the first Act before left in disgust, realising that if I continued to watch, I may start hating my favorite opera. Yes, the DVD production is dreadful- WHY do I need to see what the action looks like from above? The staging was not developed with that perspective in mind. It's as if a child was given a video camera and he got distracted (often) by twirly, shiny things. The worst crime, though, is the inept, thoughtless staging. What did any of those images have to do with the story? I kept thinking "If Corky St. Clair [Waiting for Guffman] staged an opera, this is what it would look like". There was no thought behind it- the director simply puked a bunch of unrelated and trite ideas and images (I'm sure he thought they were clever and profound- please don't be fooled. Just because an "artist" has an idea doesn't make that idea art) onto the stage that had no bearing on the music being performed. The movement of the performers was clunky, amateurish and simply looked unrehearsed. Certain aspects of the production were so unnecessarily noisy that the music itself was drowned out. If they decided to finally put Satyagraha on DVD, why did they choose such a dreadful performance? Did Glass have any say in WHICH production was going to be preserved for posterity? Why would anybody want to preserve this? Please, help me understand! I'm going to go disinfect my eyeballs now.
Rating:
Summary: How To Ruin Great Art 101
Review: This DVD should be used in University courses to illustrate how an inept director can ruin a magnificent work of art. Satyagraha is, bar none, my favorite piece of music. I was delighted to find out that I'd finally be able to SEE the music that had given me pleasure for so many years. I managed to make it through the first Act before left in disgust, realising that if I continued to watch, I may start hating my favorite opera. Yes, the DVD production is dreadful- WHY do I need to see what the action looks like from above? The staging was not developed with that perspective in mind. It's as if a child was given a video camera and he got distracted (often) by twirly, shiny things. The worst crime, though, is the inept, thoughtless staging. What did any of those images have to do with the story? I kept thinking "If Corky St. Clair [Waiting for Guffman] staged an opera, this is what it would look like". There was no thought behind it- the director simply puked a bunch of unrelated and trite ideas and images (I'm sure he thought they were clever and profound- please don't be fooled. Just because an "artist" has an idea doesn't make that idea art) onto the stage that had no bearing on the music being performed. The movement of the performers was clunky, amateurish and simply looked unrehearsed. Certain aspects of the production were so unnecessarily noisy that the music itself was drowned out. If they decided to finally put Satyagraha on DVD, why did they choose such a dreadful performance? Did Glass have any say in WHICH production was going to be preserved for posterity? Why would anybody want to preserve this? Please, help me understand! I'm going to go disinfect my eyeballs now.
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