Composers Datebook®

Adamo at the opera

Composers Datebook for March 13, 2017

Synopsis

It might seem farfetched that Katherine Hepburn, Winona Ryder and Charles Ives might have anything in common, but there IS a connection of sorts: Hepburn appeared in a 1933 film based on Louisa May Alcott's classic 19th century novel, "Little Women," Wynona Ryder starred in a 1994 Hollywood remake, and, in 1913, American composer Charles Ives composed the music we're hearing now—the second movement of his "Concord" sonata for piano, a movement titled "The Alcotts," which evokes Louisa May, her novel and her real-life family and friends, who included the New England "Transcendentalists," Emerson and Thoreau.

Set during the American Civil War, Alcott's "Little Women" chronicles the coming of age of four young women in Concord, Massachusetts. The story of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy has charmed readers and film-goers around the world. Ives's music, like Alcott's novel, is nostalgic, affectionate, and quietly powerful.

A young contemporary American composer, Mark Adamo, has written an opera based on Alcott's "Little Women", which premiered on today's date in 1998 at the Opera Studio of Houston Grand Opera. After its premiere, that company's general director, David Gockley, pronounced Adamo's opera "destined to become an American classic," and rescheduled "Little Women" for mainstage performances at Houston Grand Opera in March of 2000.

And Mr. Gockley's predication seems to have been accurate. Since the successful Houston Opera revival in 2000, Mark Adamo's version of "Little Women" has been staged again and again, to equal acclaim from audiences and critics.

Music Played in Today's Program

Charles Ives (1874 - 1954) The Alcotts, fr Concord Sonata Anthony de Mare, piano CRI 837

Mark Adamo (b. 1962) Little Women Houston Grand Opera; Patrick Summers, cond. Ondine 988

On This Day

Births

  • 1700 - French composer and flutist Michel Blavet, in Besançon;

  • 1860 - Austrian composer and music critic Hugo Wolf, in Windisch-Graz;

Deaths

  • 1842 - Italian-born composer Luigi Cherubini, age 81, in Paris;

Premieres

  • 1744 - Handel: oratorio "Joseph and his Brethren" (Julian dater: March 2);

  • 1797 - Cherubini: opera "Médée" (Medea), in Paris;

  • 1845 - Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in e, Op. 64, by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Niels Gade, with Ferdinand David the soloist;

  • 1861 - Wagner: opera "Tannhäuser" (Paris version), at the Théâtre Imperial de l'Opéra;

  • 1947 - Messiaen: "Hymne" for orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic, Leopold Stokowski conducted;

  • 1954 - Schoenberg: (unfinished) opera "Moses and Aaron," in a concert performance by the Hamburg Radio; The first staged performance took place in Zürich, Switzerland, on June 6, 1957);

  • 1964 - Ernst Toch: Symphony No. 5 ("Jeptha - Rhapsodic Poem"), in Boston;

  • 1976 - Babbitt: Concerti for Violin, Small Orchestra and Tape, in New York City;

  • 1986 - George Rochberg: Symphony No. 5 (Commissioned for the sesquicentennial celebration of the city of Chicago), by the Chicago Symphony, with Sir Georg Solti conducting;

  • 1992 - Peter Maxwell Davies: "Strathclyde Concerto" No. 5 for violin, viola and strings, at Glasgow's City Hall, by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer, with soloists James Clarke and Catherine Marwood;

  • 1998 - Mark Adamo: opera "Little Women" at Houston Opera Studio, with Christopher Larkin conducting;

Others

  • 1970 - George Crumb completes his "Black Angels" for electric string quartet, percussion and water-tuned musical glasses; The score is inscribed: "finished on Friday the Thirteenth, March 1970 in tempore belli" (in time of war).

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

YourClassical

Mobberley's Piano Concerto

James Mobberley (b. 1954): Piano Concerto; Richard Cass, piano; Czech National Symphony; Paul Freeman, conductor; Albany 335

2:00
Get Composers Datebook in your inbox
YourClassical

Loeffler and Anderson in Boston

Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935): ‘Five Irish Fantasies’; Neil Rosenshein, tenor; Indianapolis Symphony; John Nelson, conductor; New World 332 Leroy Anderson (1908-1975): ‘Irish Suite’; Decca studio orchestra; Leroy Anderson, conductor; MCA 9815

2:00
YourClassical

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968): ‘Naomi and Ruth’; St. Martin’s Academy and Chorus; Sir Neville Marriner, conductor; Naxos 8.559404

2:00
YourClassical
2:00
YourClassical

Previn's Violin Concerto

Andre Previn (1930-2019): Violin Concerto; Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin; Boston Symphony; Andre Previn, conductor; DG 474500

2:00
YourClassical

Rochberg in Chicago

George Rochberg (1918-2005): Symphony No. 5; Saarbrucken Radio Symphony; Christopher Lyndon-Gee, conductor; Naxos 8.559115

2:00
YourClassical

Ernesto Cordero

Ernesto Cordero (b. 1946); ‘Concierto Festivo’; Pete Romero, guitar; I Solisti di Zagreb; Naxos 8572707

2:00
YourClassical

Haydn encored

Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1808): Symphony No. 92 (‘Oxford’); Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra; Adam Fischer, conductor; Nimbus 5269

2:00
YourClassical

Paine in Boston

John Knowles Paine (1839-1906): Symphony No. 2; New York Philharmonic; Zubin Mehta, conductor; New World 350

2:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Composers Datebook®

Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.

He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.

About Composers Datebook®
YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00