2023 upgraded and remastered version of Robert Ashley's Perfect Lives -- in 1080P full HD video format, pressed on double-Blu-Ray (175 minutes; stereo; Region 0/worldwide). Perfect Lives has been called "the most influential music/theater/literary work of the 1980s." At its center is the hypnotic voice of Robert Ashley. His continuous song narrates the events of the story and describes a 1980s update of the mythology of smalltown 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 about 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. Remastered in 2022/23. 1080P HD Blu-Ray 49178 (two discs); 16-page booklet includes Robert Ashley's synopsis plus articles on the music by Kyle Gann and the video by Charles Hagen. Personnel: Robert Ashley- solo voice; Jill Kroesen and David Van Tieghem - chorus; "Blue" Gene Tyranny - keyboards; David Van Tieghem - non-keyboard percussion; Peter Gordon - music producer; John Sanborn - television director; Paul Shorr - soundtrack producer; Dean Winkler - image processing and videotape editor.

Blu-Ray 49178 (2 discs)
16 page booklet includes Robert Ashey's
synopsis plus articles on the music by Kyle Gann and the video by Charles Hagen