How can we respond to injustice in society? As a young lawyer in South Africa, the famous Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi devised a spiritual answer to this question. His actual mandate was only to mediate in a legal dispute between two Indian businessmen. But the systematic oppression experienced by the Indian minority in South Africa under British rule, and the racism that they faced and which was about to be anchored in new legislation, caused him to undertake much more comprehensive activities: He decided to dedicate his life’s work to the struggle against discrimination. Gandhi called his new method of resisting this injustice without resorting to violence “Satyagraha”, holding firmly to the truth. The truth is considered as the most effective device in the struggle against injustice; opponents are to be convinced by peaceful means, by non-violent resistance. In South Africa, thus, Gandhi laid the foundations for his later work in India, his unconditional commitment to freedom which was to turn him into a global model and icon.
Philip Glass dedicated his major choir opera and emphatic work of art Satyagraha to this defining chapter in Gandhi’s biography and to the idea of non-violent resistance: His serene minimal music transports us into new spheres of consciousness, and the timeless verses from the Bhagavadgita, the most important writing of Hinduism, invite us to internal contemplation.
The US-American director Daniel Kramer returns to the State Opera of Hanover to launch the new season. In 2023, he celebrated a special success with his production of Nixon in China, described as an “excitingly colourful and politically ribald pièce de résistance” by the magazine Opernwelt. His production of Satyagraha talks about life in a future where classism and global warming have irretrievably divided society. Colourful utopian ideals of peace and regeneration raise our confidence, hip and playful scenes invite us to dream, impressive choir-singing, images and video projections allow us to feel the vibes of communal action – an inspiring experience.
