 |
 
  |
|
|
|
|
 Well-written novels last through time, suspended in a world that can transport a reader back to ancient Roman or forward in a time machine. A good book awakens the reader's pleasure as sights, sounds and passion swirl and stimulate; breathing life into the author's vision, and affecting people for decades, for generations to come. Louisa May Alcott was that kind of a writer. She had no way of knowing the impact that Little Women would have so long after her death, and that even today her story continues to move, inspire, and measure the life and loves of modern women. This tour de force is about to emerge on the Concord scene once more, in the very town from which Little Women emerged. It has the same degree of drama and inspiration of the original, only this time it is set to music. The opera, Little Women, written by composer Mark Adamo and commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera in 1998, will appear onstage at Fenn School, June 11th and 17th, produced in collaboration with Orchard House and a group of talented young singers known as the Boston Opera Company.
The search for Boston Opera Project's 2005 opera was conducted with the singers in our community in mind. The world of opera is female-saturated, and an opera that contains mostly women, although not hard to find, tends to be based in a convent or about fanciful fairy worlds. Little Women leapt out at us as an ideal fit for our needs. The novel is a beloved treasure in American literature (which makes it accessible for newcomers to opera). Little Women is rooted in this state, it has a plethora of roles for females, and it would be a premiere performance for Massachusetts. It seemed fated that the last obstacle to producing Little Women, acquiring the rights, should be wholly absorbed through the support of the G. Schirmer publishing house.
Mark Adamo's adaptation of Alcott's novel has quickly grown with the same rapidity and snowball effect that the original novel had when first published. The novel translates well into opera because its storyline is timeless and its female roles are enduring archetypes that society can relate to. Adamo's ability to translate literary characterization into music may be found in his use of themes and tessitura. The maternal figure of Mrs. March (Marmee) is represented in the opera by a low, lyric mezzo-soprano voice that holds stalwart throughout the opera, convincing the audience of her steadfast love of her husband and family. For her, the family connection is what brings one through hardship.
In another type of separation, this one due to love, Meg March becomes the first of the sisters to leave the roost and marry. Her balanced mezzo-soprano voice is the blossoming female, who, within Little Women grows from a demure young woman to an abundant female icon. Anna, whom Louisa modeled Meg's character, had two children.
Jo is the central character within the opera and struggles throughout to accept the changes happening within her life. Jo is the adventurer, who covets a life of independence and freedom for women. Her Aunt March, the matriarch, is a rare example of female freedom which, as a widow, allows her the liberty that many women found lacking in their own lives. She seizes the stage with her commanding, contralto sound. These roles allow for a myriad of readers to find a character that truly resounds within them, which then permits for a larger spectrum of popularity. Through this timelessness of character and the contemporary music style of Adamo's Little Women, we are thrilled to be able to offer Massachusetts yet another venue in which they are able to get to know the March girls. Once again, the lives, loves, and losses of the girls will tread the stages in Boston and in Concord, their lives presented to all through the evocative melodies written for them. Through beautifully styled arias and duets, lively scenes and arguments, our lives will be touched once more by the sacrifice and familial closeness so present in Louisa May Alcott's original novel and in her life.
Opera PreviewsBoston Opera Project logo designed by Tracie Bechtel LMA photo 1870, courtesy of The L. M. Alcott Memorial Association/Orchard House. Orchard House photograph courtesy of John J. Althouse. Other photos Art Today. Backgrounds by Word of Mouth Web Design.
|
Boston Opera Project first began when five professional singers came together to discuss a very familiar problem: Opera companies are reluctant to hire young singers unless they have role experience, and young singers cannot get role experience unless they are hired by opera companies. The Boston Opera Project board is determined to give young opera singers professional opportunities by producing operas for singers. Boston Opera Project's mission is to offer emerging regional opera singers' opportunities to enhance their skills and explore alternative as well as mainstream opera repertoire. Boston Opera Project provides a supportive and creative atmosphere through a structure of singers working for singers. By doing so, Boston Opera Project hopes to reach out and broaden the knowledge of opera within the greater Boston community as well as enrich the experience of audiences familiar with traditional opera.
The next challenge was to incorporate Orchard House, the author's home, and the historical richness that Concord has to offer, Louisa May Alcott's story and Little Women. Jan Turnquist, Executive Director at Orchard House has been an instrumental part of the process in bringing Little Women to life, through encouragement, creativity and the dispensing of her generous knowledge of Concord and its extraordinary history. Concord will now be twice blessed (with Dedham) as the first settlement back from the seacoast and the first town in all of Massachusetts to host the opera Little Women. As a result of the generosity of the staff at Orchard House, events such as our Little Women preview show, to be held on May 15, 2005 at Orchard House and performances of the opera at Concord's well-known Fenn School, June 11th and 17th, have been made possible.
Most of the novel covers the period of the Civil War, when many of Concord's men had been sent to war and left behind were the women and men too young or old to fight. It fell to them to keep the home afloat, forcing families to band together for their very survival. We see the family closeness when Beth March's tragedy comes to light and the entire family gathers to mourn. In the opera Beth's steady soprano voice and musical line is representative of the unrealized future, the potential for growth that never was. In this time children's lives were perilous and Louisa May recounted in her character Beth, her beloved sister Lizzie's untimely death.
May, the only other sister to have a family of her own, is Amy in Little Women. Her soprano voice embodies all young, naïve women longing for the future and what it might bring. Amy reunites with Laurie, and marries him in Europe, their love exalted in a glorious duet. Although this is not true to life (May marries a European she meets abroad, not her next door neighbor), Louisa's made up love triangle between Laurie, Amy and Jo still continues to spark debates as to who Laurie should have married. 