'Little Women' is laudable
When Mark Adamo composed his 1998 opera based on Louisa May Alcott's ''Little Women," he wanted to uncover the novel's basic dramatic conflict, he has written. Adamo, who wrote his own libretto, pared the book down to a poignant tale about the inevitability of change and the impossibility of holding on to the present.
Adamo's ''Little Women," which had its New England premiere on Friday courtesy of New England Conservatory Opera Theater, focuses solely on Jo March's desire to hold together the perfect world of her childhood against the forces of change. ''We're perfect as we are," she sings, but as the opera proceeds, she's told, ''Things change, Jo."
Act I presents the idyllic world shared by the sisters -- Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth. The adult world begins creeping in when Meg decides to marry John Brooke. Jo feels betrayed by her sister, then shocked when her friend Laurie asks for her hand. She spurns him and leaves for New York, convinced that after a while his feelings will return to the platonic.
Jo returns home in Act II to see her frail sister Beth die, and to learn that Laurie and Amy are engaged. Her childhood world shattered, she finally reconciles herself to leaving it behind. A German professor named Bhaer whom she met in New York drops in unexpectedly at the end. ''Is now a good time?" he asks. ''Now is the only time there is," Jo responds.
It's a striking rethinking of the book. Adamo's music, however, is less so. It's mostly tonal and lyrical, with plenty of long-spun melodies -- the kind of approachable, easily digested score that's becoming increasingly common in contemporary opera. The music's greatest achievement is the skill with which it creates the atmosphere of bittersweet yearning that drives the plot. Beyond its mood-setting power, though, it's rather unmemorable.
The vocal writing is challenging, and the singers held up well. Jo's role was taken by mezzo soprano Hannah Penn, whose voice and stage presence were strong. The other sisters' roles were convincingly filled by Sarah Austin (Meg), Jennifer Moore (Amy), and Ji Young Yang (Beth).
Of the men, Heath Huberg (Laurie) and Andrew Ryker (Brooke) sounded robust but slightly unsteady at the tops of their ranges. Baritone Daniel Cilli, an NEC opera alum, took a magnificent turn as Bhaer, making one wish that there were more for him to do. The orchestra gave a solid account of the score under Douglas Kinney Frost. Sets were minimal but effective, as was the stage direction by Marc Astafan.
''Little Women" has attracted a lot of attention and been produced several times since its premiere, and the NEC forces deserve praise for allowing us to see and hear it. One wonders what these young talents could do with opera that sounds as new as it is.
