Robert Ashley's PERFECT LIVES Robert Ashley's video opera about bank robbery, cocktail lounges, geriatric love, adolescent elopement, et al, in the American midwest. One of the definitive text-sound compositions of the late 20th century. It has been called a comic opera about reincarnation. "Who needs the Bible? We have PERFECT LIVES." - John Cage. At the center of PERFECT LIVES is the hypnotic voice of Robert Ashley. His continuous song narrates the events of the story and describes a 1980's update of the mythology of small town America. PERFECT LIVES is populated with myriad characters revolving around two musicians"R," the singer of myth and legend, and his friend, Buddy, "The World's Greatest Piano Player." They have come to a small town in the Midwest to entertain at the PERFECT LIVES Lounge. As Robert Ashley describes in the opera synopsis, "they fall in with two locals to commit the perfect crime, a metaphor for something philosophical: in this case, to remove a sizable amount of money from The Bank for one day (and one day only) and let the 'whole world know that it was missing'." The eloping couple, Ed and Gwyn, the old people at the home, the sheriff and his wife (Will and Ida) who finally unravel the mystery, and Isolde who watches the celebration of the changing of the light at sundown from the doorway of her mother's house are some of the characters who journey through the seven episodes of the opera. Derived from a colloquial idiom, PERFECT LIVES transforms familiar material into an elaborate metaphor for the rebirth of the human soul. It has been called a comic opera about reincarnation. Robert Ashley's opera-for-television projects and other large scale narrative works have brought him international renown as a composer and as a writer. He has influenced a generation of composers and artists working with new forms of music for the media. PERFECT LIVES was commissioned by the Kitchen (NYC) in 1978. Since its premiere on Great Britain's Channel Four in 1984 it has been broadcast throughout Europe and in various cities in the United States. Complete seven-part opera on 2 videocassettes. VHS/NTSC. (1984) (181 minutes). Video by John Sanborn. Robert Ashley, solo voice; Jill Kroesen & David Van Tieghem, chorus; "Blue" Gene Tyranny, keyboards; David Van Tieghem, non-keyboard percussion; Peter Gordon, music producer; Paul Shorr, soundtrack producer; Dean Winkler, video synthesis and video tape editor; Mary Perillo, associate director/producer; Jacqueline Humbert, costumes; Carlota Schoolman, producer for The Kitchen. SYNOPSIS PERFECT LIVES I. THE PARK Raoul de Noget (No-zhay), a singer, and his friend, Buddy, "The World's Greatest Piano Player," have come to a small town in the Midwest to entertain at The Perfect Lives Lounge. For some reason, unexplained, they have fallen in with two people from the town, Isolde ("nearing 30 and not yet spoken for") and her brother, "D," just out of high school and known as "The Captain of the Football Team" (his parents call him Donnie), to commit the perfect crime, a metaphor for something philosophical: in this case, to remove a sizable amount of money from The Bank for one day (one day only) and "let the whole world know that it was missing." CAST PERFECT LIVES ROBERT ASHLEY as "R" (The Narrator) Produced in collaboration with CARLOTA SCHOOLMAN for THE KITCHEN (New York City) in association with CHANNEL FOUR (Great Britain). Television DirectorJOHN SANBORN Instrumental music beds composed in collaboration with "BLUE" GENE TYRANNY and PETER GORDON Music produced in collaboration with PAUL SHORR Video image processingDEAN WINKLER and JOHN SANBORN Associate directorMARY PERILLO Videotape editorDEAN WINKLER Piano solos and electronic keyboard parts composed by "BLUE" GENE TYRANNY Piano solos based on harmonic progressions by "BLUE" GENE TYRANNY Pre-recorded chorus voices: JILL KROESEN and DAVID VAN TIEGHEM and REBECCA ARMSTRONG (The Supermarket) Costumes and make-up by JACQUELINE HUMBERT Piano landscape-mirrors and color design by MARY ASHLEY Synchronous sound recorded by PAUL SHORR Audio engineer: Joshua Harris Rhythm templates derived from the "Palace" organ, courtesy of Gulbransen Organ Co. (CBS Musical Instruments) Personal management for Robert Ashley by PERFORMING ARTSERVICES, INC. Television production made possible in part by grants from: the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Beards Fund Special thanks to Pierre Audi and The Almeida Theater (London) Perfect Lives was commissioned for television by THE KITCHENMary MacArthur Griffin, Director, Carlota Schoolman, Television Producer Written and created for television by ROBERT ASHLEY copyright (c) (P) Robert Ashley, 1983 PERFECT LIVES was developed musically through live performances in Europe and America, booked and managed by Performing Artservices, Inc. "Blue" Gene Tyranny was Ashley's first collaborator -- his keyboard melodies and harmonies define the character of Buddy. Tyranny and Ashley performed a chamber version of the piece many times together (including at The Kitchen in dearly 1978). Shortly after, The Kitchen commissioned PERFECT LIVES as an opera for television, the live version expanded to include richly layered orchestral tapes produced by composer Peter Gordon, and the singing of Jill Kroesen and David Van Tieghem. In 1980, John Sanborn recorded the basic video tracks on location in Illinois according to the templates provided by Ashley's score. From this material, THE LESSONS, a preview version of the opera (based on keyboard gestures by "Blue" Gene Tyranny) was produced through the TV Lab at WNET. In the fall of 1982, a pre-sale was obtained from Channel Four Television in Great Britain, making possible the completion of PERFECT LIVES. John Sanborn, the television director, designed an elaborate shooting and editing plan for the visual elements of Ashley's score. The post-production was completed this August (1983) at VCA Teletronics, under the supervision of Dean Winkler, who worked with Sanborn on image processing and was the videotape editor. * * * * * "The collaborative aspect of the work follows principles I have used for many years in search of a new operatic style. The collaborators are given almost absolute freedom to develop characterizations from the textual and musical materials I provide. The musical and visual materials are coordinated through 'templates', a term I have come to use to describe the subjective assignment of emotional values and moods to visual forms and corresponding musical structures. Within the rules defined by the 'templates' the collaborators in all aspects of the work are free to interpret, 'improvise', invent and superimpose characteristics of their own artistic styles onto the texture of the work. In essence, the collaborators become 'characters' in the opera at a deeper level than the illusionistic characters who appear on stage." |