Opera

Vanessa

Venue: Charleston Gaillard Center

Duration: Approximately 2 hours, 45 minutes, including an intermission

Overview

Music by Samuel Barber
Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti
Directed by Rodula Gaitanou
Conducted by Timothy Myers
Scenic and costume design by Cordelia Chisholm

Rising operatic superstar Nicole Heaston takes on the titular role in this powerful existential drama, set to one of the most beautiful scores of the 20th century. Tucked away in a countryside mansion, Vanessa has waited 20 years for the return of her lover, Anatol. When his deadringer son arrives instead, a love triangle ensues between the conniving young suitor, Vanessa, and her impressionable niece.

American composer Samuel Barber won the Pulitzer Prize for Vanessa’s sweepingly lyrical score, which explores the full depths of the characters’ psyches in what librettist and Spoleto’s founder Gian Carlo Menotti characterized as a universal human dilemma.

Sung in English with English supertitles.

Please note that any bag may be subject to search upon entry.

Chef Mike Lata Pairs Dinner and a Show

Essential Barber from Vanessa conductor Timothy Myers

Class is In: Artists and their Teachers

Cast