The HOT Take From The Santa Fe Opera Festival – Vanessa

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Barber & Menotti

Samuel Barber’s Vanessa premiered at the Met Opera in 1958 after a long gestation period, with Barber’s partner, Giancarlo Menotti, writing the libretto.  (“I don’t know how severely Verdi harassed poor Boito, but I can assure you that Sam haunted me in my dreams until the very last words of the opera were written,” said Menotti.).   As you would expect from the composer of the famous Adagio and the popular Violin Concerto, the score is ravishingly beautiful, with evocative orchestral interludes, and soaring vocal lines. The story is based on one of Isak Dinesen’s Seven Gothic Tales, and the opera has a surreal atmosphere throughout.  Vanessa has been waiting for twenty years for the return of her lover, Anatol.  While she waits, along with her mother, the Baroness, and her niece, Erika, she has all of the mirrors in the house covered up so that she will not see her aging face.  A stranger arrives, and he turns out to be Anatol’s son, also called Anatol, by the wife he met after he left Vanessa.  After a brief affair with Erika, Anatol starts to court Vanessa, and they decide to marry.  During the grand ball to announce the engagement, Erika runs away, and we learn that she was pregnant with Anatol’s baby. She loses the baby, and keeps it a secret from Vanessa and Anatol, who leave to live in Paris.  As the opera ends, Erika settles down to await their return, having covered up the mirrors again.

The cast in Santa Fe was extremely strong, with Erin Wall in the title role and Virginie Verrez as Erika.  Erika’s aria “Why must the winter come so soon” was particularly beautiful, as was the famous Act 3 quintet, “To leave, to break, to find, to keep”.  Also memorable was the offstage chorus “In morning light let us rejoice”.  The audience was delighted to hear the veteran Wagnerian baritone, James Morris, in the role of the Doctor.  Conductor Leonard Slatkin gave a masterful reading of the work, especially in the third act, beginning with a breathtaking orchestral interlude.

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Director James Robinson created a stunningly pristine backdrop to the work, with an ingenious set designed by Allen Moyer.