Eleonor Steber Nicolai Gedda Rosalind Elias - Barber Vanessa (31 tracks) +Album Reviews

Someone Revive This....Soon!

Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 06/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This may be one of the greatest American operas of all time. It is shocking that a work of this quality isn't more widely performed. It is a vocal showcase. Vanessa suffers perhaps from a bit overwrought libretto. Menotti is guilty of his usual excesses. But Barber more than makes up for this in the sweep of his melodies. Musically, the piece is tonal, but harmonically adventureous. Interestingly, some of the piece calls to mind composers such as Bernard Herrmann or Miklas Rosza...high praise indeed for dramatic music in my mind. The final quintet at the end of the fourth act is rapturous. I find myself listening to it again and again.The performance is as close to perfect as a composer could wish for. Steber is brilliant as Vanessa and Rosalind Elias is a moving Ericka. Mitropoulos conducts with sweep and power. I wish opera companies would revive this work. It really deserves it."

Very Few "Perfect" Recordings...

Daniel Mitrano | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | 12/11/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are only a few of what I would call "perfect" opera recordings. I can happily add Barber's Vanessa to that list. Steber's performance leaves one shaking one's head wondering why she hadn't made more recordings. Hers is that rare combination of pure beauty of tone, perfect technique, dramatic flair, unfailing musicianship, power, and range. Why do we have so little of her on disc? She gives the performance of a lifetime as the title role. That isn't to say the rest of the cast isn't on the same level. Amazingly, Rosalind Elias as Erika almost steals the scenes away from Steber. Her mezzo is rich yet youthful sounding, dramatically and musically as fresh as Steber. The two together is magic. Gedda impresses as Anatol, his English pronunciation is superb. Tozzi is in glorious voice and delivers with relish. That leaves Mitropoulos to conduct with brilliance, savoring Barber's bejewelled score with every stroke of his baton. It's a wonderful score, brilliantly written. The libretto is a bit too kitschy, but no more than any Verdi opera. The sound, even from the 1950's, is clear and fresh, putting some "modern" recordings to shame. I would get this set while it's still available. There is no wonder why it was only recorded once--there's no reason to record it again."

A Masterpiece!

Daniel Mitrano | 04/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A truly gorgeous recording. What amazed me the most is the perfect diction of each performer. What a lesson for singers young and old! Barber's score is hauntingly beautiful.The cast is, without exception, brilliant Why isn't this work done at the Metropolitan on a regular basis?"

Brilliant recording... practically perfect

Patricia A. Powell | gladstone, nj USA | 03/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a 20th century opera that connects with people who don't usually go to the opera. As another reviewer indicated, it needs to be brought back.

This recording is brilliant. The cast is practically perfect... Vanessa Barber, Eeanor Steber, Nicolai Gedda, Rosalind Elias, Giorgioo Tozzi and Regina Resnik conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos. Every role is sung by a great singer in great voice.

If you cannot hear Vanessa at the local opera house (or even if you can), I highly recommend this recording."

When art swoons into the arms of camp

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/13/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Opera has no shame, but if it did, Barber's "Vanessa" could be offered up as camp incarnate. High camp, of course. The orchestral introduction is redolent of Hollywood melodrama, more Max Steiner than Verdi. One knows immediately that "Vanessa" will be the operatic equivalent of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" Menotti's libretto works itself up into hysterics that are a campy version of Blanche Dubois' breakdown in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Yet it's easy to have a deep fondness for this mishmash. There was a ripe period of movies and theater that rode a crest in Forties film noir, and Barber took it to the point of over-ripeness. If opera queens want a recruitment poster, Vanessa herself could appear on it.

Since its appearance five decades ago, the premiere recording has been a cult item. Eleanor Steber gives a signature performance, for better or worse. This is a diva who wound up singing in gay baths at the tail end of her career, and she seems willing to play to a similar sensibility here. Yet there's poignancy in such an unembarrassed portrayal. If you want to hear it onstage, Orfeo and other labels offer the same cast and conductor live from the Vienna State Opera. That recording is in clear mono; the singing a touch more dramatic, but there's considerable loss of orchestral detail. The other great asset is Mitropoulos, who lends his great talent to music that gushes and swoons far more than it rises to eloquence. Barber had no reason to rein in his gift for lyricism, as he would in his disastrous follow-up opera, Antony and Cleopatra. The purest enjoyment when listening to "Vanessa" comes from its melodies, which are more or less continuous.

In all, one may wish that Barber hadn't descended quite so close to the kitsch of Menotti's own operas, yet in hindsight this outpouring of quasi-Puccini, for all its dramatic flaws, represents a unique period in American music. I imagine more people will be attracted to "Vanessa" in the future,and its campy air will turn into nostalgia."

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