eL/Aficionado, by Robert Ashley, music direction and sound design by Tom Hamilton, lighting and stage design by David Moodey, Roulette, Brooklyn, NY, October 21–23, 2021.
“You may begin the observations at any time,” instructs the First Interrogator, performed by Brian McCorckle. On the stage, bathed in blue light, the Agent (Kayleigh Butcher), sits opposite two seated interrogators (Bonnie Lander and Paul Pinto) in suits and sunglasses, while the first looms over the scene from an elevated platform. The set is sparse and the décor minimal; save for two white, unadorned, freestanding ionic columns, and a self-supporting frame with agape French windows veiled behind threadbare, ethereal curtains, there are few compositional elements to augment the stark setup. The staging is administrative, fitting for an interrogation room.
First composed in 1987, el/Aficionado is the fourth opera in Robert Ashley's tetralogy Now Eleanor's Idea, which the composer described as collectively...