El Aficionado

This is the fourth opera in Ashleys Now Eleanors Idea tetralogy: Junior, Jr.s story. A group of scenes from the life of an Agent. The scenes are a kind of debriefing to a jury of Interrogators, in which the Interrogators challenge the Agent in various forms of musical dialogue. The mood of the opera owes much to our fascination with espionage and with the character of those people who lead double lives.

The operas of Robert Ashley, one of contemporary musics most influential figures, have pointed the way to new uses of language in a musical setting. The mood of his new opera, eL/Aficionado, owes much to our fascination with espionage and with the character of those people who lead double lives. eL/Aficionado depicts a group of scenes from the life of an agent, portrayed by Thomas Buckner, who is being debriefed by a jury of Interrogators, portrayed by Robert Ashley, Sam Ashley and Jacqueline Humbert. Mixing and electronics are by Tom Hamilton. Robert Ashley credits corporate vocabularywhat it sounds like and how it is used in popular publications like Fortune Magazine or The Wall Street Journalas the inspiration for the work. Lovely Musics CD release of eL/Aficionado coincides with its presentation at the Brooklyn Academy of Musics Next Wave Festival as part of a quartet of operas entitled NOW ELEANORS IDEA.