Here is a belated update on Glass appearing outside the opera house on Thursday night.  It was a very unique scene, covered here by the New Yorker classical music writer Alex Ross and by the LA Times.

It was also picked up by NPR's Deceptive Cadence, Gothamist, a lengthy report from The Nation, The NY Times blog, the Huffington Post and many others.

Sondheim on Satyagraha:  Sanskrit – the best language for a libretto

"When I first heard that the libretto of Philip Glass's 1979 opera Satyagraha was written in Sanskrit (by him and Constance de Jong), I giggled inwardly at what I deemed its pretentiousness and, delightedly reverting to my snotty adolescence, made many a witty remark at its expense. Then I saw it. Not only was I mesmerised for most of it, I was brought up short by the realisation that Sanskrit was the best possible language for an opera libretto.

It has the two necessary qualities: it utilises predominantly open vowel sounds (listen to the title), and it doesn't invite you to try to understand the language, which is something you automatically do at the opera if you know a smattering of German or Italian or French. With Sanskrit, you are relieved of every bit of concentration except where it counts: on the music and the singing – and, if you're interested in the story, on the surtitles. Even librettos in English need surtitles, since distended vowels, vocal counterpoint and the over-trained diction of many performers make it difficult to understand. Every librettist should have a smattering of Sanskrit. It will save them, and their audiences, a huge amount of work. SS"

Concerto Sostenuto

Elsehwere on planet earth, on the other side of the country violinist Robert McDuffie triumphed again with the San Diego Symphony performing the Glass second violin concerto.