Abandoned by her lover Anatol, Vanessa retreats from the world, waiting and hoping with only her mother and her niece Erika for company. But when, 20 years later, Anatol’s handsome young son arrives unexpectedly, he shatters the calm of this shuttered household of women. Past and present love collides, and the aftershocks threaten to destroy them all.

Samuel Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Vanessa is an opera from the age of Hitchcock – a tense, psychological drama full of unspoken and unspeakable truths. It boasts one of the 20th century’s most beautiful scores, rich in melodies, filmic strings and soaring brass, with echoes of Puccini and Strauss. It climaxes in a final quintet of Mozartean poignancy – one of the great ensembles of the contemporary repertoire.

Keith Warner directs this award-winning production, starring soprano Emma Bell in the title role. Jakub Hrůša conducts.

Vanessa was captured live at Festival 2018