Mark Adamo’s opera Little Women began life here in Washington, as a subject suggested to the composer by Elaine Walter, artistic director of Summer Opera Theater Company, when Adamo was still in Washington. For various reasons, Adamo withdrew the opera from the little company, in favor of a later premiere in 1998, at Houston Grand Opera. This was a wise decision, because the greater media exposure from the larger company undoubtedly played some part in…

On Saturday night, the Washington National Opera opened its best production of the season, with David Alden’s modernized staging of Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa. Washington is the last of the three cities co-producing this version to see it on the stage, after a well-received 2004 premiere at Houston Grand Opera and an overwhelming critical success last fall at English National Opera, where it won the Laurence Olivier Award for best new opera production. Janáček adapted the…

This Saturday evening, the Washington National Opera opens its highly anticipated production of Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa. This is only the second Janáček opera in the history of the WNO, with one Cunning Little Vixen done in English translation in 1993. This new production directed by David Alden premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2004: after it played to critical success last fall at English National Opera, it won the Laurence Olivier Award for best new…