Vanessa (Barber)
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| Title: | Vanessa |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Samuel Barber |
| Libretto : | Gian Carlo Menotti |
| Premiere: | January 15, 1958 |
| Place of premiere: | Metropolitan Opera New York |
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Vanessa is an opera in four or three (revised version, premiered in 1964) acts by Samuel Barber . It premiered on January 15, 1958 at the New York Metropolitan Opera . The European premiere took place in the same year as part of the Salzburg Festival . The English libretto was written by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti .
action
Vanessa waits longingly for her lover Anatol. Her niece Erika keeps her company. The relationship with Anatol was many years ago, long years of waiting (“Must the winter come so soon”). In all this time Vanessa has given herself to her loneliness and her fear of aging, all mirrors and paintings in the house are covered.
Finally a carriage pulls up to bring the expected. Instead of the beloved, however, his son appears, who is also called Anatol. However, Vanessa initially does not notice that it is not her lover and tells of the suffering of waiting ("Do not utter a word").
Vanessa finally falls in love with the younger image of the late Anatol. The young Anatol, however, desires the young Erika and proposes to her. However, Erika declines because she doubts the seriousness of the application.
Vanessa, however, intensifies her affinity to the young Anatol, who gets involved in the game. Finally, the trusted family doctor is supposed to announce the imminent marriage of the two at a ball evening. Erika and Vanessa's mother therefore do not want to take part in the ball. Finally, Erika appears anyway, but passes out when the doctor announces the good news.
Erika runs to the lake and wants to kill herself, but ends up unhappy in a small ravine, where she is found. In a conversation with the grandmother it turns out that she was pregnant by Anatol, but the pregnancy is over. Vanessa becomes suspicious and lets Anatol and Erika swear that nothing went between them. Eventually she persuades Anatol to leave the country and live in Paris . The house now belongs to Erika, she now covers up all the mirrors and paintings - and mourns just like Vanessa had done before.
Awards
The opera was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1958 .
Web links
- Samuel Barber: Vanessa at Zazzerino , accessed December 8, 2014.
- Vanessa on Operapaedia (San Diego Opera), accessed December 8, 2014.
Individual proof
- ^ Directory of the Pulitzer Prize Winners 1958 at www.pulitzer.org