In 2026, Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menottii’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Vanessa has taken the East Coast by storm. This seminal American opera follows three generations of women—the Old Baroness, Vanessa, and Erika—as they navigate love, longing, and the tension between idealism and compromise.
On May 29, the National Symphony Orchestra released a live recording of Vanessa in concert, featuring an all-star cast led by conductor Gianandrea Noseda, with performances by Nicole Heaston, J'Nai Bridges, Matthew Polenzani, Susan Graham, and Thomas Hampson.
Reflecting on the work, Noseda describes its “mystery” and “rarefied and restless northern world” as central to its enduring appeal. Captured from a 2025 performance at the Kennedy Center, the album captures the opera’s lush romanticism and psychological intensity with vivid orchestral color and exceptional vocal performances. The double album is available from NativeDSD in both stereo and 5-channel surround sound formats.
From May 12–31, Heartbeat Opera presented a bold new adaptation of Vanessa in its much-anticipated New York premiere. Newly arranged for five singers and a chamber ensemble of seven musicians by Dan Schlosberg, the production is directed by R.B. Schlather and strips the opera down to what Classical Voice North America called its “stark, chilling core.” The cast features Inna Dukach as Vanessa, Mary Phillips as the Baroness, Kelsey Lauritano as Erika, Frederick Ballentine as Anatol, and Joshua Jeremiah as the Doctor.
The production has been met with widespread acclaim. The New York Times praised it for “landing with horrifying force,” adding that it “suggests that Vanessa was never anything but current.” Three additional performances were added after the initial run sold out. An extended profile in The New Yorker heralded the work as an "operatic masterpiece."
The Boston Symphony Orchestra began the year with a semi-staged performance of Vanessa in partnership with Boston Lyric Opera. Andris Nelsons conducted Jennifer Holloway and Samantha Hankey in the lead roles, with Anne Sofie von Otter, Ganson Salmon, Patrick Carfizzi, and Wei Wu in the supporting cast. Praising the performances, Boston Classical Review also heralded Vanessa's "score of extraordinary variety and depth. Sometimes thick and sumptuous, sometimes light and playful, always evocative and tightly constructed, this is a work...that stands as a powerful testament to the composer’s technical brilliance and, by and large, his firm command of theater."
For more information, please contact Peggy Monastra.
