What have we here? An American opera, less than two hours long, that uses several musical idioms and styles (as well as leitmotifs) but never draws attention to its own musical cleverness and is only concerned with getting the story across dramatically, touchingly, and elegantly. There are arias, duets, and ensembles (Mark Adamo also wrote the libretto, so his vision of the way the story should be told stems solely from his own head–a good idea), and the score is tonal. (In an interview, Adamo explains that the recitatives are 12-tone; you could have fooled me.) There are moments of unsurpassed beauty–the aria in which Meg explains to Jo that “things change,” and that she, Meg, has fallen in love with John–and there are moments of great fun; but above all, Adamo realizes that Little Women is about coming of age, loyalties, and loves, and he keeps the work intimate.
He manages this intimacy not only by refusing to turn events “operatic” (even Beth’s death scene is on a small scale), but also in his remarkable scoring: there are only 18 instrumentalists. This is not to say that we have a “chamber opera” on our hands–his 18 players make a grand sound because Adamo genuinely knows how to shade his canvas, and we can hear every switch and hue. The performances are first rate, especially Stephanie Novacek’s Jo, filled with longing, doubt, love, and stubbornness, and Joyce DiDonato’s Meg, who sings her aforementioned aria about as beautifully as you’ve ever heard anything sung. But Chad Shelton’s Laurie is also fine and Katherine Ciesinski’s Cecilia stands out too. In short, this is a great ensemble piece, performed by a great ensemble. When the March girls sing together it’s a veritable 16th century “concerto delle donne” updated, and Adamo has no fear of coloratura either. Patrick Summers leads the orchestra with obvious love, and this live performance is captured beautifully by Ondine’s engineers. Hate contemporary opera? Think it’s noisy and unfriendly? Overly dramatic? Listen to this and change your mind. [10/25/2001]
