About the work
Vanessa is an opera in three acts (originally four) by Samuel Barber, to a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti. Barber composed the score in 1956–57; it premiered on 15 January 1958 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York under conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, with Eleanor Steber in the title role.
Plot
Around 1905, the aging Vanessa has spent years waiting in an isolated northern country house for the return of her former lover, Anatol. Instead his son of the same name arrives, at first drawing close to Vanessa's niece Erika before becoming engaged to Vanessa herself. After Erika suffers a miscarriage, Vanessa and the younger Anatol leave the house together, while Erika stays behind in resignation.
Cultural significance
The premiere was hailed as a milestone for American opera and earned Barber the first of his two Pulitzer Prizes for Music in 1958; that same year Vanessa became the first American opera staged at the Salzburg Festival. Its early popularity later waned, but subsequent revivals have drawn renewed attention to the work's psychological depth.