This chapter attempts to provide an overview of Atalanta (Acts of God) (1982–87), which comprises three operas. Each opera focuses on one “apple,” or character, in Ashley's reinterpretation of the ancient Greek myth. In Ashley's idiosyncratic cosmology, the three golden apples thrown in front of Atalanta are transformed into three characters: the great jazz pianist Bud Powell; Ashley's uncle Willard Reynolds, described by Ashley as a shaman or storyteller; and the surrealist painter (and Mimi Johnson's late uncle) Max Ernst. Max, Willard, and Bud represent three aspects of opera: image, narrative, and music. In addition, the chapter briefly profiles two singers Ashley had met during the making of Atalanta and who would later become permanent members of his ensemble: Thomas Buckner and Jacqueline Humbert.
Nan Prince and the Golden Apples
