Roulette TV: ROBERT ASHLEY, Pt. 2 from Roulette Intermedium on Vimeo.
Roulette TV had a such wealth of wonderful material from our discussion with composer Robert Ashley and the April 2012 performances of his opera "The Old Man Lives in Concrete", that we made an additional RTV episode... We had yet to circulate it publicly, and with the news of his passing earlier this week, feel compelled to share it now.
"The Old Man Lives in Concrete" is epic and novel-like in it's scope, it's songs and interludes equalling more than 10 hours all told. At Roulette, Mr. Ashley's ensemble performed a 4 hour version, spread across 2 nights. Here we see excerpts from it's second half and culmination...
In this episode, we spoke to Mr. Ashley about the musical aspects of his text, and how the pace of "The Old Man Lives in Concrete" compares to some of his other opera's like "DUST" and "Celestial Excursions". We also discussed the sad state of support for new opera, or new narrative work at all... And as usual, we concluded with the question "Why make music?".
Iconoclast composer Robert Ashley revisits his opera, Concrete, with eight new songs. Each evening’s performance features four solo songs (Portraits) about ordinary people who did extraordinary things for which they’ll never be recognized, alternating with ensemble sections (Meditations) with short solos sung by Ashley (as The Observer).
Libretto, Music and Direction: Robert Ashley
Singers: Sam Ashley, Thomas Buckner, Jacqueline Humbert, Joan La Barbara and Robert Ashley
Electronic orchestra: Robert Ashley
Mixing and live electronics: Tom Hamilton
“Ashley celebrates language and questions its basic hold on truth or rational thought. His ultimate message may be that the language of music strikes deepest.”— The Los Angeles Times
“When the 21st century glances back to see where the future of opera came from, Ashley, like Monteverdi before him, is going to look like a radical new beginning.” — Kyle Gann, The Village Voice
“If James Joyce were alive today, he would probably be trying to write operas like Robert Ashley.” —The Wire
First Part
Roulette TV: ROBERT ASHLEY from Roulette Intermedium on Vimeo.
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