Little Women: An Opera in Two Acts

Little Women: An Opera in Two Acts

Little Women: An Opera in Two Acts
List Price: $33.99
Our Price: $23.42
You Save: $10.57 (31%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $15.66 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Listen soundtracks from this album



(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

Music CD Cover

Conductor: Mark Adamo
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2001-08-28
Music Label: Ondine
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Four Little Chests All In A Row
  2. Laurie - The Very Same, Madam
  3. Couldn't I Un-bake The Breads
  4. Barrister! It's A Quarter Past!
  5. Again We Meet To Celebrate
  6. Major, Minor
  7. Socks!
  8. Supper, Half An Hour!
  9. Madness. No. Mania No.
  10. Rigmarole? It's Another Game.
  11. There Was a Knight Once
  12. Oh, This Cannot be Borne.
  13. She That IS Down Need Fear No Fall
  14. Our Own Fanny Mendelssohn
  15. Mr. John Brooke, Laurie's Tutor
  16. Long May Our Comrades Prosper Well
  17. Things Change Jo
  18. I Understand. You're Leaving Us
  19. Aunt? Now, I Haven't Done Any Shading Yet
  20. We Stand Together on the old
  21. Jupiter Ammon! The Poetry!
  22. We Stand Together On This Old/New Day
  23. Don't Dare Suggest It, Laurie
Music CD 2
  1. Cockling? Cackling?
  2. Drizzling In New York
  3. But That's Why I Loved It! So Lurid and Preposterous
  4. Kennst Du Das Land, Wo Die Zitronen Bluhn?
  5. Do You Know The Land Where The Lemon Trees Bloom?
  6. It's Lovely. My Father Swears By Him
  7. She's Asked For You
  8. Have Peace Jo
  9. She Who Is Down Need Fear No Fall
  10. That's The Problem With Solitaire: You Always Need A King
  11. My Joy Beyond Measure, Mother!
  12. She Sounds Very Happy. I Hope Laurie Feels The Same
  13. You, Alone: A Mansion Of Stone
  14. So The Days Go By, And The Summers Fly
  15. Let Me Look At You

Free Music Notes for Little Women: An Opera in Two Acts

Free Music Review: Modern Opera Finds Its Voice
Hit: 5 Stars

Mark Adamo's "Little Women" is one of the finest operas to come off a composer's pen in many, many years. It's probably the best new opera written recently and it's certainly the most accessible. Andre Previn must be green with envy - his "Streetcar Named Desire" doesn't contain half as much memorable music.

Adamo's writing is wonderfully melodious, absolutely beautiful to the ear - anyone's ear, not just modern music snobs. When Adamo breaks into melody (and there's tons of melody here, real melody), the tonality just gushes everywhere.

You'll want to hear a number of arias over and over, but the baritone aria that begins the second act will melt your heart. (Listen for it to quietly return at the opera's end). Every mezzo-soprano will soon be clamoring to play Jo. The role is challenging, dramatic and full of gorgeous music. Beth's death scene is incredibly moving, with her voice floating over Adamo's harmonies to the "heavenly meadows." The closing quartet is as lovely and bittersweet as a "Rosencavalier" in miniature.

Adamo's libretto is as much of a wonder as the score. His adaptation and condensation of the story is tightly focused on Jo and the inevitable changes of maturity. But there's plenty of humor too - the words and music are a perfect match. This opera is one that will last, one that gets more beautiful on every hearing.

Although this opera is being staged everywhere now - it's on its way to the New York City Opera, where Adamo is now composer in residence - it's hard to imagine a better peformance than this one. Most of the cast members created their roles at the world premiere and repeated them at the recent revival in Houston.

You'll never regret having this CD. Thanks to Mark Adamo and the Houston Grand Opera.

Little Women: An Opera in Two Acts Poster

Mark Adamo's transfer of the Louisa May Alcott novel to the opera stage is an artistic and commercial success. It's been scheduled by numerous opera companies, and this Houston Grand Opera production drew a large audience to its PBS broadcast. The success is due to Adamo's sense of the lyric theatre--his sharply focused libretto that clarifies both story line and the narrative's meaning, and his accessible yet sophisticated music.

Little Women is about change and letting go of the past. This theme and the dramatic conflict it engenders are beautifully encapsulated in two fine Act I scenes: Jo's "Look at us, Laurie: we're perfect as we are," and Meg's aria, "Things change." Adamo's music is equal to the challenge of his ambitious agenda. The 18-piece orchestra sounds bigger than it is, perhaps because it's always active, moving the story along on its own or commenting on the characters and action. Adamo writes big arias and unapologetically includes expressive coloratura passages. He even dares to write a Schubertian aria on the text of Goethe's "Kennst du das Land," repeating it (with variations) in English. And he injects some humor into the opera, as heard in the delightful scene of Brook's proposal to Meg, an arch snippet about surtitles, and Jo at the offices of a trashy tabloid. The singers are all first-rate, but the opera rises or falls on Jo, the kind of meaty part singers would kill for. Stephanie Novak is marvelous here, singing with passion and projecting Jo's innocence as well as her journey to self-knowledge. Patrick Summers leads a definitive performance of the opera. The recording is drawn from live performances in March 2000. Ondine, a Finnish company, has done American music proud with this release. --Dan Davis

Classical Music CDs

Music Genres
Top music charts in Classical Music CDs
Winterscapes ImageWinterscapes
by London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebee ImageThe Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebee
by Dini Petty
Childrens Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops: $20.98
Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr ImageClassical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr
Release date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos)) ImageTchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))
by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] ImageJose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]
Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops: $9.99
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] ImageTchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops: $29.95
Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] ImageRambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
Winter Music: Composing the North ImageWinter Music: Composing the North
by John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.62
Price in other shops: $25.95
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImagePuccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $29.95
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImageVerdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Top Rated Albums
The Stranger's Child ImageThe Stranger's Child
by Alan Hollinghurst
Knopf; Published: 2011-10-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.91
Price in other shops: $27.95
Body Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique ImageBody Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique
by Michael J. Gelb
Holt Paperbacks; Published: 1996-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.18
Price in other shops: $16.00
Little Women (Collector's Series) ImageLittle Women (Collector's Series)
RYDER,WINONA; Release date: 2000-04-25; DVD
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops: $14.99
The Grapes of Wrath ImageThe Grapes of Wrath
Release date: 2008-08-26; Music CD
Best price: $28.61
Price in other shops: $39.98
G. Schirmer American Aria Anthology: Mezzo-Soprano ImageG. Schirmer American Aria Anthology: Mezzo-Soprano
G. Schirmer, Inc.; G. Schirmer, Inc.; Published: 2004-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.71
Price in other shops: $25.99
Passing By ImagePassing By
Release date: 2010-09-14; Music CD
Best price: $9.91
Price in other shops: $16.98
Little Women The Musical (2005 Original Broadway Cast) ImageLittle Women The Musical (2005 Original Broadway Cast)
Release date: 2005-05-03; Music CD
Best price: $11.80
Price in other shops: $18.98
Little Women: Libretto by Mark Adamo (G. Schirmer's Collection of Opera Librettos) ImageLittle Women: Libretto by Mark Adamo (G. Schirmer's Collection of Opera Librettos)
G. Schirmer, Inc.; G. Schirmer, Inc.; Published: 2001-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops: $9.95
Little Women: Opera in Two Acts ImageLittle Women: Opera in Two Acts
G. Schirmer, Inc.; G. Schirmer, Inc.; Published: 2001-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $55.99
Price in other shops: $80.00
Adamo: Little Women ImageAdamo: Little Women
Release date: 2010-10-26; Published: 2010-12-10; DVD
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: $33.98
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles