Music with Roots in the Aether: Opera for Television by Robert Ashley (1974– ) User Reviews

A must see

[rob_h · 10/10 · 19 June 2002]

Ashley's idea of "opera for television" alternates interviews and performances--both kinds of segments last under an hour. Remarkably insightful, the disarmingly informal quality of the interviews is sometimes complicated by odd cinematography (closeups of Philip Glass's hands contrasted with Ashley's, one memorable example). To the student of "new American music" in the mid-seventies, "Music with Roots in the Aether" is indispensable.