Many filmmakers and composers have taken on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women over the past century, but no one has captured the novel's soul better than Mark Adamo.

Utah Opera opened an excellent production of Adamo's 1998 opera at the Capitol Theatre this weekend. If you love the book — or even if you found it tedious and preachy — you need to see this opera. Some of Alcott's delightful vignettes have fallen by the wayside along with the sermonizing, but what remains is a simple, powerful moral: Things change, and so must we.

Adamo did double duty as composer and librettist of "Little Women" and succeeded spectacularly on both counts. The score is undeniably modern; when the characters converse, it's in the most natural-sounding 12-tone music you'll ever hear. But when they voice their emotions, it's in the lush, ear-pleasing arias that are the hallmark of grand opera. The masterfully crafted libretto is rich with insight and unexpected humor. (Jo's aria "Couldn't I unbake the breads," Meg's "Things change, Jo" and Bhaer's "Kennst du das Land" are among the more memorable examples.)

Mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock commands the Capitol Theatre stage in the central role of Jo. Her performance Saturday was a vocal and dramatic knockout. The opera's momentum flags only in the wedding scene — the one time when the action isn't revolving around Jo. (The March parents' reminiscence of their own vows — "ours the hours" — is a tad too precious and goes on just a little too long.)

Mezzo Jamie Van Eyck is equally captivating as older sister Meg; she sings and acts beautifully and has excellent chemistry with Babcock and with baritone Chad Sloan, who gives a charming performance as Meg's suitor (and eventual husband), John Brooke. Sopranos Angela Theis and Donna Smith give musically and dramatically solid performances as Beth and Amy, respectively.

Jo has two potential love interests in the opera, as in the novel: best pal Theodore "Laurie" Laurence and the intriguing Professor Friedrich Bhaer. Adamo stacks the deck in Bhaer's favor, as does Utah Opera's casting of baritone Christopher Clayton, who brings charisma and warmth to the role of the professor. Tenor Tanner Knight fares less well as Laurie; he often sounded strained on Saturday and was more convincing as a mischievous teenage boy than as a serious romantic partner for Jo.

The supporting cast — mezzo Stina Eberhardt and baritone Darrell Babidge as parents Alma and Gideon March, mezzo Kimberly Barber as Aunt Cecilia March, baritone John Buffett as the editor Mr. Dashwood — is uniformly strong.

Adamo's score includes some terrific close-harmony singing by four offstage women. In a lovely bit of casting, three of those women — Josette Cross Grant, Lyndsay Spring Browning and Melissa Heath — played March sisters in the University of Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble's fine 2009 production of "Little Women." Aubrey Adams McMillan rounds out the quartet.

Every instrument counts in Adamo's chamber-scaled score, and the Utah Symphony gives a beautifully shaded performance under the direction of Christopher Larkin — who also conducted "Little Women's" world premiere. David Gately supplies the intelligent and sensitive stage direction that's made him a Utah Opera favorite for 20 years.

The clean-lined set, designed by Scott Reid, serves the opera well in the first act, but projected images — intended to represent far-flung locations — compromise the lighting on the singers in the second act. Otherwise, this is a handsome production, enhanced by Susan Memmott Allred's period costumes and Jenifer Lloyd's wigs.

creese@sltrib.com —

The March opera

P Utah Opera presents Mark Adamo's "Little Women," based on the Louisa May Alcott novel and sung in English (with supertitles).

Where • Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City

When • Reviewed Saturday; continues Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:30, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday

Tickets • $15 to $85 ($5 more on performance day) at 801-355-ARTS, the box office or www.utahopera.org

Running time • 2 ½ hours, including one 20-minute intermission

Learn more • Utah Opera artistic director Christopher McBeth will hold a Q&A session immediately after each performance in the Founders Room on the mezzanine level at Capitol Theatre.