Boston Symphony Orchestra

Andris Nelsons, conductor

Jennifer Holloway, soprano (Vanessa)

Samantha Hankey, mezzo-soprano (Erika)

Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (The Old Baroness) Pavel Černoch, tenor

(Anatol) Thomas Hampson, baritone (The Old Doctor)

Wei Wu, bass (Major Domo/Footman)

Alexandra Dietrich, staging coordinator

Tanglewood Festival Chorus , Betsy Burleigh, guest choral conductor

Boston Lyric Opera Chorus, Brett Hodgdon, conductor

BARBER Vanessa

Composed by Samuel Barber
Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti
Presented under license from G, Schirmer, Inc., copyright owners

Andris Nelsons leads some of the most acclaimed stars of opera today in performances of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, a work considered by many the greatest American opera. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1958, Vanessa premiered at the Metropolitan Opera that year. Barber wrote the opera on a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti; they aimed for a cosmopolitan, nostalgic work on lost love and the consequences of self-delusion. Barber’s romantic lyricism is ever-present in this powerfully affecting work, a centerpiece of this season’s E Pluribus Unum: From Many, One focus.

For tickets and more information, please visit BSO’s website