Last Updated 11/21/2024 02:22 PM EST
LOG IN
CART
Cart Items :
Sub Total :
artist
label
title
catalog #
any field
advanced
New Releases
Artists
Labels
Forthcoming
Best Sellers
Reviews
Jobs
soundclips
[All Countries]
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Europe
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Korea
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Romania
Russian Federation
Scotland
Senegal
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
UK
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
World's Leading Terrorist State
World's Misleading Terrorist State
[All Formats]
Book
Cassette
CD
Clothing
Digital
DVD
MISC
VHS
Vinyl
[All Genres]
CLASSICAL
COMEDY
ELECTRONIC
EXPERIMENTAL
HIPHOP
JAZZ
Misc
ROCK
WORLD
artist
catalog #
label
title
any field
Tweet
Send Email
PRICE:
$22.50
$22.50
IN STOCK
ARTIST
ASHLEY, ROBERT
TITLE
Improvement (Don Leaves Linda)
FORMAT
2CD
LABEL
LOVELY MUSIC
CATALOG #
LCD 5002CD
LCD 5002CD
GENRE
EXPERIMENTAL
RELEASE DATE
11/22/2019
Like
John Bunyan
's
Pilgrim's Progress
(1678),
Improvement (Don Leaves Linda)
is an allegory for an individual's self-realization. The opera takes its imagery from the history of the Jews --beginning with their expulsion from Spain in 1492 and ending 500 years later in the United States.
Improvement (Don Leaves Linda)
was first conceived as a recording for Nonesuch Records (1991). Ashley followed with three other operas, making up a quartet or tetralogy under the name
Now Eleanor's Idea
(LCD 1009CD), and all four operas were performed often during the first half of the 1990s.
The opera was revived in 2018-19, with a new cast:
Gelsey Bell
as Linda;
Brian McCorkle
as Don, Mr. Payne, and Companion;
Paul Pinto
as Junior, Jr.;
Aliza Simons
as Now Eleanor;
Dave Ruder
as The Doctor;
Amirtha Kidambi
as Mr. Payne's Mother;
Robert Ashley
(on tape) as Narrator I; Amirtha Kidambi and Aliza Simons as Narrator II.
Improvement (Don Leaves Linda)
was presented by the Kitchen, February 7th through 16th, 2019. Live Sound and Processing:
Tom Hamilton
. Live cast recording by
Eric Sherman
and Tom Hamilton. CD mixed by Tom Hamilton.
"
Improvement
is engrossing because Ashley was one of the finest American prose writers of the 20th century and his writing was made thrilling Thursday night by the beauty of the performance. These new artists incorporate Ashley wholly in their musical experience, taking the work beyond the objective presentation of the opera's means, style, and form. Thursday night they were as characterful and plainly human as one will experience on the opera stage. Gelsey Bell was exceptional, the warm glow of her voice a colorful contrast with Ashley's pleasantly parched midwestern twang. She expressed vocally Linda's mix of befuddlement and optimism, her sense that her own life is a mystery -- and through some imperceptible means she outlined Linda's aging while always sounding the same. Hamilton's digital reconstruction of the original audio was superb, true to the source material and with the subtlety Ashley requires, while also having ample open space, depth, and vividness. He was just as much a member of the ensemble as the artists on stage, and just as vital to the human feeling that grew throughout the performance to a gentle but moving coda at the end of the evening." --
George Grella
, New York Classical Review, February 8, 2019
Customers who bought this title also bought these titles:
Other releases on LOVELY MUSIC
Other releases by ASHLEY, ROBERT