Little Women

by Mark Adamo
Houston Grand Opera: Houston Symphony
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Performers listed below

We all know lots of "coming-of-age" stories. We've read them in books, seen them at the movies and on TV, and in plays and operas. Usually, these stories are of the heartwarming variety. A young person confronts the frightening prospect of growing older, leaving youth for adulthood, and dealing with a world far more complicated than he or she had thought it was. Sure there's pain to be encountered along the way, but in most of these stories, that person eventually sees maturity as a reward -- and painful growth as a passage into a new world filled with prospects and promise.

But what if the new, "grown up" world seems bleaker than the old one? What if, when entering adulthood, one grieves over the loss of youth, instead of reveling in newfound possibilities? Could a "coming-of-age" story then be a tragedy, instead of a heartwarming tale of growth and fulfillment?

Well, OK. We're not going to tell you that with this week's opera, composer and librettist Mark Adamo has turned Louisa May Alcott's beloved Little Women into a variation on Medea, or something. (Maria Callas would not have been a good choice to play Adamo's "Jo March" character -- much less "Marmie.") But we do think the opera will give you a different notion of what a "coming-of-age" story can tell us. The opera's sadly wistful ending may leave you wondering whether growing up was such a good idea in the first place.

So, put your preconceived notions on hold, forget all about Winona Ryder and Kate Hepburn, and tune in this week's NPR World of Opera, with Steve Curwood, for Adamo's Little Women, in a production from Houston Grand Opera.



Performers:
Margaret Lloyd (Amy); Stephanie Novacek (Jo); Chad Shelton (Laurie); Stacey Tappan (Beth); Joyce DiDonato (Meg); Gwendolyn Jones (Alma March); Daniel Belcher (John Brooke); James Maddalena (Gideon March); Katherine Ciensinski (Cecilia March); Chen-Ye Yuan (Friedrich Bhaer); Derrick Parker (Mr. Dashwood)

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