Little Women (opera)

"Little Women" (1998) is the first opera composed by American composer Mark Adamo to his own libretto after Louisa May Alcott's tale of growing up in New England after the American Civil War, "Little Women".

Performance history

Commissioned and introduced in March 1998 by the Opera Studio of Houston Grand Opera (HGO), then under the guidance of General Director David Gockley, "Little Women's" first two performances prompted Gockley to pronounce it "destined to be an American classic" and scheduled the opera for a mainstage revival 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, New York City Opera, Opera Pacific), to newer, more progressive companies (Fort Worth Opera, Opera Columbus) from American summer festivals (Glimmerglass Opera, Central City Opera, Chautauqua Opera), to international venues (Teatro de la Ciudad in Mexico City, World Expo in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan), and to conservatories (Indiana University at Bloomington, Anderson University, Westminster Choir College, New England Conservatory of Music, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music.)

The American television premiere took place on August 29, 2001 on PBS's "Great Performances" (a co-production between Houston Grand Opera and Thirteen/WNET New York), 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 Australian premiere in Spring 2007. The Israeli premiere is scheduled for July 2008 in Tel Aviv.

Critical reaction

While some critics have argued that the score's reach exceeds its grasp — "Opera News" suggests that "the nontonal pages never quite mesh with the arias' flights of aching, Bernsteinian lyricism" — critical consensus has largely followed that of John Rockwell of "The New York Times", who, on the occasion of the March 2003 New York City Opera premiere, called "Little Women" a "masterpiece".