Little Women is the first opera composed by American composer Mark Adamo

Mark Adamo

Mark Adamo is an Italian American composer and librettist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While he has composed the symphonic cantata "Late Victorians, "Four Angels: Concerto for Harp and Orchestra," and six substantial choral works, the composer’s principal work has been for the opera house:...

 to his own libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 after Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...

's tale of growing up in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 after the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Little Women

Little Women

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869...

. The opera also includes text by John Bunyan

John Bunyan

John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...

 (Beth's setting of The Pilgrim's Progress

The Pilgrim's Progress

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been...

), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

 (Dr. Bhaer sings "Kensst du das Land"), and Alcott herself (an excerpt of one of her thrillers at the beginning of Act II, which is spoken and mostly omitted on the audio recording).

Performance history

Commissioned by the Opera Studio of Houston Grand Opera

Houston Grand Opera

Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...

 (HGO), then under the guidance of General Director David Gockley

David Gockley

David Gockley is an American opera company administrator. He served as general director of Houston Grand Opera from 1972 to 2005 and has been general director of San Francisco Opera since 2006.-Biography:...

, Little Women was first performed on March 13, 1998 in a smaller scale production. The success of this first production prompted Gockley to pronounce it "destined to be an American classic" and scheduled the opera for a mainstage premiere of ten performances in March 2000 — making it the first of HGO's twenty-some commissions to be so revived.

G. Schirmer published the opera in May 1998; National Public Radio broadcast the recording of the premiere the following September; and there have been more than 35 distinct productions, professional and academic, domestic and international, since the world premiere, ranging from established American stages (Minnesota Opera

Minnesota Opera

The Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded in 1963 by the Walker Art Center, and is known for premiering such diverse works as Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and Frankenstein by Libby Larsen...

, New York City Opera

New York City Opera

The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...

, Opera Pacific

Opera Pacific

Opera Pacific was an opera company located in the Orange County, California, United States city of Santa Ana. It operated for 22 seasons before closing in 2008 after several seasons of deepening financial difficulties.-History:...

), to newer, more progressive companies (Fort Worth Opera

Fort Worth Opera

According to the company, Fort Worth Opera is the oldest, continually performing opera company in the state of Texas and among the oldest in the United States. While originally presenting operas one at a time over a fall/winter season, it changed to a "festival" format in 2007...

, Opera Columbus) from American summer festivals (Glimmerglass Opera

Glimmerglass Opera

Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.The summer-only season usually consists of four operas performed in...

, Central City Opera

Central City Opera

Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G...

, Chautauqua Opera

Chautauqua Opera

The Chautauqua Opera is the resident summer opera company of the Chautauqua Institution. It is the oldest continuously active summer opera company in the U.S, having been founded in 1929, and it has produced several operas during the Institution's nine-week summer season every year since...

), to international venues (Teatro de la Ciudad

Teatro de la Ciudad

The Teatro de la Ciudad was built as the "Teatro Esperanza Iris" in 1918 and is now one of Mexico City’s public venues for cultural events...

 in Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, World Expo in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 and Nagoya, Japan), and to conservatories (Indiana University at Bloomington

Jacobs School of Music

The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music...

, Anderson University

Anderson University (Indiana)

Anderson University is an accredited private Christian liberal arts university in Anderson, Indiana. The college is affiliated with the Church of God . Anderson University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and the society. In 2010, U.S...

 (three of this cast died in a small plane crash in Bloomington a few years later), Westminster Choir College

Westminster Choir College

Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...

, New England Conservatory of Music

New England Conservatory of Music

The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...

, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

San Francisco Conservatory of Music, formerly the California Conservatory of Music, founded in 1917, is a music school, with an enrollment of about 400 students. It was launched by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead in the remodeled home of Lillian's parents on Sacramento Street. It was called the...

, University of the Philippines College of Music

University of the Philippines College of Music

The University of the Philippines College of Music, Diliman, previously referred to as the U. P. Conservatory of Music is an autonomous unit of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Its first dean is Francisco Santiago from the town of Sta. Maria, Bulacan, Philippines....

.)

The American television premiere took place on August 29, 2001 on PBS

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

's Great Performances

Great Performances

Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...

(a co-production between Houston Grand Opera and Thirteen/WNET New York

WNET

WNET, channel 13 is a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the New York metropolitan area, WNET is a primary station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...

), and the world premiere recording of the HGO production was released on Ondine on August 28, 2001.

As of January 2006, Little Women was scheduled for its Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n premiere in Spring 2007. The Israeli premiere is scheduled for July 2008 in Tel Aviv.

"Little Women" is scheduled to have its European Premiere in Bruges, Belgium on August 1, 2009. The performers are participants in the Intermezzo Foundation's Young Artist Program. The Canadian premiere will take place in January 2010, performed by the Calgary Opera

Calgary Opera

The Calgary Opera is a Canadian professional opera company in Calgary, Alberta, originally known as the Southern Alberta Opera Association. It performs in the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, accompanied by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Calgary Opera Chorus...

.

Critical reaction

While some critics have argued that the score's reach exceeds its grasp — Opera News

Opera News

Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...

suggests that "the nontonal pages never quite mesh with the arias' flights of aching, Bernsteinian

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

 lyricism" — critical consensus has largely followed that of John Rockwell

John Rockwell

John Rockwell is a music critic, editor, and dance critic. He studied at Phillips Academy, Harvard, the University of Munich, and the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Ph.D. in German culture....

 of The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, who, on the occasion of the March 2003 New York City Opera premiere, called Little Women a "masterpiece".

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, March 13, 1998 (Conductor: - Christopher Larkin Christopher Larkin Christopher Larkin is an American conductor who is best known for his work within the field of opera. He was Associate Conductor of the Houston Grand Opera for a number of years where he notably conducted the world premieres of Mark Adamo's Little Women and Michael Daugherty’s Jackie O. He is also... )	Televised Cast, August 29, 2001 (Conductor: - Patrick Summers)
Jo	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...	Stephanie Novacek Stephanie Novacek Stephanie Novacek is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who has appeared at many of the world's opera houses. A regular performer at the Houston Grand Opera and Opera Atelier, Novacek is especially known for her performances in contemporary operas and in obscure operas, particularly baroque works,...	Stephanie Novacek
Laurie	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Chad Shelton Chad Shelton Chad Shelton is an American operatic tenor. Particularly associated with the acclaimed Houston Grand Opera , Shelton has excelled in performances of contemporary American operas and in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi...	Chad Shelton
Meg	mezzo-soprano	Joyce DiDonato Joyce DiDonato Joyce DiDonato is an award-winning American operatic mezzo-soprano particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Handel, Mozart, and Rossini...	Joyce DiDonato
Beth	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Laura A. Coker	Stacey Tappan Stacey Tappan Stacey Tappan is an American coloratura soprano.Tappan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up inPasadena, California. Both her parents are instrumental musicians....
Amy	soprano	Jennifer Aylmer Jennifer Aylmer Jennifer Aylmer is an American operatic soprano noted for significant performances with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, and as an oratorio soloist with major ensembles such as the National Symphony, and the Oratorio Society of New York....	Margaret Lloyd Margaret Lloyd Margaret Lloyd is an American soprano who is particularly known for her performances in contemporary operas and concert works. She has sung in the world premieres of several operas, most notably portraying the role of Lightfoot McClendon in the premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree at the...
John Brooke	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Daniel Belcher Daniel Belcher Daniel Belcher is an American operatic baritone who has sung at many of the world's leading opera houses. He notably portrayed the role of John Brooke in the world premiere of Mark Adamo's Little Women and played the role of Andy Warhol in the premiere of Michael Daugherty's Jackie O, both with the...	Daniel Belcher
Cecilia March	mezzo-soprano	Katherine Ciesinski Katherine Ciesinski Katherine Ciesinski is a leading American mezzo-soprano, stage director, and voice professor.Ciesinski was born to Delaware Sports Hall of Famer Roman Ciesinski and Katherine Hansen Ciesinski. She is the sister of opera singer Kristine Ciesinski...	Katherine Ciesinski
Alma March	mezzo-soprano	Tiffany Jackson	Gwendolyn Jones
Friedrich Bhaer	bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...  (or mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... )	Edward Scott Hendricks	Chen-Ye Yuen
Gideon March	baritone	Christopher Scott Feigum	James Maddalena James Maddalena James Maddalena is an American baritone who is chiefly associated with contemporary American opera. He gained international recognition in 1987 when he created the role of Richard Nixon at the premiere of Adams's opera Nixon in China at Houston. He has since reprised the role on many occasions,...
Dashwood	baritone	Christopher Scott Feigum	Derrick Parker Derrick Parker Derrick Parker is a retired English professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for six different teams in the Football League during his career, as well as having a spell in Finland with Haka Valkeakoski...

Song List

Act I

1. Four Little Chests All In A Row
2. Laurie - The Very Same, Madam
3. Couldn't I Un-bake The Breads
4. Barrister! It's A Quarter Past!
5. Again We Meet To Celebrate
6. Major, Minor
7. Truth or Fabrication!
8. Supper, Half An Hour!
9. Madness. No. Mania No.
10. Rigmarole? It's Another Game.
11. There Was a Knight Once
12. Oh, This Cannot be Borne.
13. She That IS Down Need Fear No Fall
14. Our Own Fanny Mendelssohn
15. Mr. John Brooke, Laurie's Tutor
16. Long May Our Comrades Prosper Well
17. Things Change Jo
18. I Understand. You're Leaving Us
19. Aunt? Now, I Haven't Done Any Shading Yet
20. We Stand Together on the old
21. Jupiter Ammon! The Poetry!
22. We Stand Together On This Old/New Day
23. Don't Dare Suggest It, Laurie

Act II

1. Cockling? Cackling?
2. Drizzling In New York
3. But That's Why I Loved It! So Lurid and Preposterous
4. Kennst Du Das Land, Wo Die Zitronen Bluhn?
5. Do You Know The Land Where The Lemon Trees Bloom?
6. It's Lovely. My Father Swears By Him
7. She's Asked For You
8. Have Peace Jo
9. She Who Is Down Need Fear No Fall
10. That's The Problem With Solitaire: You Always Need A King
11. My Joy Beyond Measure, Mother!
12. She Sounds Very Happy. I Hope Laurie Feels The Same
13. You, Alone: A Mansion Of Stone
14. So The Days Go By, And The Summers Fly
15. Let Me Look At You