”“Vivacious music-theatre of charm, wit and humour…”
The Australian
LITTLE WOMEN – State Opera
An opera in two acts
Mark Adamo, Composer
Mark Adamo, Librettist
Little Women is an opera by American composer Mark Adamo.
Inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s tale of growing up in post-Civil-War America, it recounts the lives and loves of the four March sisters as they come of age.
Adamo wrote his own libretto after Alcott’s 1868 novel and used the writings of Bunyan and Goethe to complete the story of the booking sisters.
Commissioned by Houston Grand Opera’s Opera Studio in 1998, Adamo’s first opera has gone on to be one of the most frequently performed American operas of the past 15 years.
Its Australian premiere was presented by State Opera and the State Theatre Company in 2007 at the Dunstan Playhouse. It featured a cast of bright South Australian talent including Eleanor Blythman, Kylie Bailey, Sally-Anne Russell and Jessica Dean.
The Composer, Mark Adamo flew in and joined the artists in rehearsals in the lead up to the premiere.
The Australian called it “Vivacious music-theatre of charm, wit and humour….” and “magically transporting”
It remains the only professional season of a Mark Adamo opera in Australia.
‘A Masterpiece’
New York Times
Learn more about State Opera’s Australian premiere season of Little Women
Pelham Andrews, Bass performs Kennst du das Land with accompaniment by Anthony Hunt on piano as part of State Opera South Australia’s Arias from the Archives project. Watch below.
