PHILIP GLASS — SATYAGRAHA (PARIS, OPERA GARNIER)

Philip Glass’s Satyagraha, staged at the Opéra de Paris under the inventive direction of Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, and conducted by Ingo Metzmacher, unfolds as a mesmerizing convergence of music, movement, and meditation. From the very first notes, Glass’s minimalist score, with its repeating arpeggios and slowly evolving harmonies, establishes a hypnotic rhythm that permeates the auditorium. The production immerses the audience in a contemplative sonic landscape, where every gesture, vocal line, and musical phrase seems charged with quiet spiritual intensity.

The singers deliver performances of extraordinary precision and expressive subtlety. Anthony Roth Costanzo (counter-tenor) captivates with ethereal, floating tones that underscore the opera’s meditative quality, while sopranos Ilanah Lobel-Torres and Olivia Boen offer luminous, sustained passages that echo the score’s hypnotic repetition. The baritones, Davone Tines and Amin Ahangaran, bring a grounding, resonant presence, and the chorus—including Adriana Bignani-Lesca (alto), Deepa Johnny (mezzo-soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), and Nicolas Cavallier (bass)—provides a collective voice of moral steadfastness, weaving together the soloists’ lines into a tapestry of contemplative intensity. Each vocal entrance and sustained note enhances the work’s ritualistic cadence, inviting the audience into a heightened state of attention and spiritual reflection.

 

Smith and Schraiber’s choreography accentuates this trance-like atmosphere. Dancers move with deliberate, almost ritualistic precision, their physicality mirroring the hypnotic patterns of the music. The interplay of orchestra, singers, and movement creates a rare form of immersive theatre: time seems suspended, and the stage transforms into a space for shared contemplation rather than narrative drive.

The spiritual dimension of Satyagraha is heightened by its oratorio-like qualities. Sung in Sanskrit, the text invokes ancient wisdom, and the singers’ vocal lines, from the ethereal counter-tenor to the sonorous bass, articulate a collective sense of devotion. The production renders Glass’s minimalist score not merely as music, but as an enveloping experience of mindfulness, resilience, and ethical steadfastness.

Ultimately, this staging at the Paris Opera transforms Satyagraha into an almost sacred experience. It is less about dramatic climaxes than about immersion, repetition, and reverent attention. One leaves the theatre not merely entertained but subtly altered, carried along by the serene insistence of persistence and contemplation, delivered as powerfully through the singers’ ethereal and grounded presence as through music and movement.

LAURIE ANDERSON AT THE PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS

On the evening of 12 april, the Philharmonie de Paris welcomed the unique collaboration of avant-garde icon Laurie Anderson and the genre-defying jazz ensemble Sexmob for their performance of Republic of Love. From the very first notes, it was clear that this concert would defy conventional expectations.

Anderson, known for her groundbreaking multimedia performances, brought her signature blend of spoken word, storytelling, and electronic textures to the stage. Her voice, at once intimate and theatrical, guided the audience through a series of narratives that explored love, politics, and human connection in a way that was both poignant and playful.

Sexmob, led by the virtuoso trombonist Steven Bernstein, provided a dynamic and often unpredictable musical foundation. Their improvisational jazz sensibilities interwove seamlessly with Anderson’s compositions, creating a soundscape that could swing from sultry, muted grooves to explosive, kinetic bursts of energy. Each member of the ensemble shone individually while never losing sight of the collective dialogue between music and narrative.

Visually, the performance was minimal yet impactful. Anderson’s occasional use of projections and electronic devices added texture without overwhelming the music, allowing the audience to focus on the interplay between her words and the ensemble’s expressive performance.

Republic of Love felt like an invitation to experience music and storytelling without boundaries. The audience, at times silent in reflection, at times laughing at Anderson’s wry observations, was fully engaged throughout. The evening ended with a sense of both wonder and intimacy, a reminder of the power of live performance to transport, provoke, and connect.

This collaboration was a triumph, demonstrating that when avant-garde artistry meets jazz improvisation, the result is not just a concert, but a shared journey through sound, emotion, and thought.

THE END OF MUSIC? THIS IS THE REIGN OF GHOST MUSICIANS...

 

 

The music industry has weathered the decline of physical formats and the era of piracy, but the current crisis is unprecedented: the collapse of the “generation layer.” Suno, a generative AI platform, has decoupled music production from human talent. With $300 million in annual recurring revenue and 2 million subscribers, users are generating an astonishing 7 million songs daily—equivalent to Spotify’s entire catalog every two weeks. Producing polished music now requires only a laptop and a modest subscription, and the quality is increasingly impressive.

Monetizing Infinite Content
Suno’s $2.45 billion valuation followed $250 million in venture capital funding. The platform treats music as a pure commodity: anyone with a basic subscription can compile tracks and sell them online. One independent user made $8,500 in six months by simply selling AI-generated music packs. However, as output approaches infinity, the value of each song declines toward zero.

AI Pop Stars Are Here
Record labels are signing AI-generated acts, while streaming services fill playlists with fictional artists. Telisha Jones created Xania Monet, an R&B and gospel act, entirely with Suno, securing a $3 million record deal without appearing on camera. Human artists, such as Kehlani, express alarm at AI displacing real musicians, noting that AI tailors content using extensive data on listener preferences, including replicating human voices. Ghost artists on Spotify and TikTok, like Blow Records, accrue millions of streams and earn substantial royalties from passive listening alone.

Fraud and Criminal Exploitation
The democratization of AI-generated music has also fueled a dark economy. Streaming royalties are vulnerable because platforms distribute revenue based on play counts. Michael Smith, using AI to generate hundreds of thousands of tracks and a bot network, streamed them billions of times across major platforms, defrauding the system of over $8 million. Authorities note that while the content and listeners were fake, the financial losses were very real. This highlights systemic vulnerabilities in the digital music ecosystem.

Electronic Dance Music Under Siege
Generative AI is transforming electronic dance music (EDM) by replacing human ghost producers. EDM’s reliance on structured beats and synthesized sounds makes it especially susceptible. Suno has updated its platform to function as a digital audio workstation, enabling precise beat alignment for club tracks. Digital retailers like Beatport and Bandcamp are imposing bans on fully AI-generated music to protect human artistry, but enforcement remains challenging. As synthetic tracks flood the market, EDM culture is shifting its focus to live performance and community-based value, emphasizing human presence over digital perfection.

SOUNDSCAPES AND SILENCE (PIERRE SCHAEFFER)

 

 "I live in a world that is always there for me, and this world is as much about sound as it is about touch and sight. I move through an “atmosphere” as I would through a landscape. The deepest silence is still a soundscape like any other, against which the sound of my breath and the beating of my heart stand out with an unusual solemnity. We can glimpse how strange a world suddenly deprived of this dimension would be to us through a technical glitch, when a film’s soundtrack is abruptly interrupted, or in certain dreams. We recall Baudelaire’s dream, and his “moving wonders” over which “hovered—a terrible novelty—everything for the eye, nothing for the ear—a sense of eternity.” As if the ceaseless murmur that permeates even our sleep were merging with the sense of our own duration."

 

 "Je vis dans un monde qui ne cesse pas d’être là pour moi, et ce monde est sonore aussi bien que tactile et visuel. Je me déplace dans une “ambiance” comme dans un paysage. Le silence le plus profond est encore un fond sonore comme un autre, sur lequel se détachent alors, avec une solennité inhabituelle, le bruit de mon souffle et celui de mon coeur. Quelle serait pour nous l’étrangeté d’un monde subitement privé de cette dimension, nous pouvons l’entrevoir à la faveur d’un incident technique, lorsque la bande sonore d’un film est brutalement interrompue, ou dans certains rêves. On se souvient de celui de Baudelaire, et de ses “mouvantes merveilles” sur lesquelles “planait — terrible nouveauté — tout pour l’oeil, rien pour l’oreille — un sentiment d’éternité”. Comme si la rumeur continuelle qui imprègne jusqu’à notre sommeil se confondait avec le sentiment de notre propre durée."

Pierre Schaeffer, Traité des objets musicaux, p. 104-105.