…after the indispensable Alcott novel, is my first opera, composed for the studio of Houston Grand Opera in 1998 and revived there in 2000: those performances were taped for telecast in the PBS series Great Performances and aired in the summer of 2001. Since then, any number of good things have befallen it: Ondine released the complete opera on compact disk in 2001, and G. Schirmer published the libretto and vocal score in 2002. Beautiful productions have been presented by Minnesota Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Pacific, State Opera of South Australia, and by Marin Alsop’s Cabrillo Festival, among over one hundred others: and the exquisite rendition on which Glimmerglass Opera and New York City Opera collaborated in the 2002-2003 began my five-year residency at NYCO and toured Japan in spring 2005. And, in the fall of 2010, Naxos released the telecast of the Great Performances rendition both in standard DVD and on Blu-ray, making it the first American opera ever to be released in high-definition television.
Here’s a digest of what the press has had to say about Little Women, alongside John Rockwell’s assessment of New York City Opera’s version in the The New York Times: here too are astute essays by Thomas May and by Daniel Felsenfeld, and a selection of the conversations I’ve had with journalists about the piece. You’ll find the distinguished photographer Joe McNally’s documentation of our Japan tour, among many other images.
Here you can find Beth’s aria, “Have peace, Jo” and Bhaer’s aria “Kennst du das Land:” you’ll also find arias in Schirmer’s collections for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and baritone. Eclipse Chamber Orchestra commissioned Alcott Music, an orchestral suite from the opera after its premiere; you’ll find the score here and the recording here. Peggy Monastra, my splendid representative at G. Schirmer, can answer any questions about perusal DVDs: Lastly, besides my program note and the opera’s technical details, I blush to include a compulsively complete course (in .pdf form) Opera America asked me to prepare for their online audience in the summer of 2002.
Critical response
Conversations on Camera
Conversations in Print
