Mention the composer Samuel Barber to an opera buff with a long memory, and you’ll get a bitter blast about Antony and Cleopatra, the disaster that opened the Met’s Lincoln Center house in 1966. Eight years earlier, though, the composer produced Vanessa, which Met audiences loved and critics praised—and which sank after the Antony debacle. On November 4, City Opera revives the superheated love triangle, with the indomitable Lauren Flanigan in the title role.
Reviving ‘Vanessa’
- By Justin Davidson
- Published Aug 24, 2007
Vanessa
New York City Opera; opens November 4.
Related:
- Archive: “Guides”
- Articles by Justin Davidson
- Table of Contents: Sep 3, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!
Art
- Kara Walker Brings Racial History Into High Contrast
- The New Museum Hits the Booming Bowery Scene
- A Guide to the Lower East Side Art Scene
- The Old Met vs. the New Met
- Rembrandt and His Dutch Peers
- Images From Tokyo’s Furtive Sex Life
- Richard Prince's Tawdry Nurses and Marlboro Men
- The Best of the Rest in Art
Books
- Junot Díaz Karate-Chops His Writer’s Block
- Tom Perrotta’s Sex-Ed Book
- Edmund White Imagines Stephen Crane's Deathbed Confessions
- Shalom Auslander’s Beef With the Lord
- Philip Roth Will Not Go Gentle Into the Night
- Alice Sebold's Latest Pretty Tale of Death in Suburbia
- A Guide to the Season's Biggest Political Tomes
- The Anticipation Index: A Mathematical Breakdown
- The Best of the Rest in Books
Classical & Dance
- German Highlights at Carnegie Hall
- YouTube Compositions at BAM
- Classical and Dance Darlings Join Forces at ABT
- An Acting Philharmonic Conductor in Brooklyn
- A 42-Year-Old Rookie Takes Center Stage at the Met
- The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
- The Universe of Brit Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon
- Can Vanessa Make Up for the Barber Debacle of '66?
- The Best of the Rest in Classical & Dance
Movies
- Christian Bale Tussles With Russell Crowe
- New York Film Festival: A Mini-Preview
- Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem on the Coen Brothers
- Viggo Mortensen and David Cronenberg’s Violent Streak
- Nicole Kidman on Working With Jennifer Jason Leigh
- Political Films Attempt to Influence the National Debate
- Jodi Foster Takes on Post-9/11 New York
- Renée Zellweger Hooks Up With Jerry Seinfeld
- Video Games: Hard-Core Gamers vs. Everyone Else
- The Anticipation Index: A Mathematical Breakdown
- The Best of the Rest in Movies
Music
- Alicia Keys Confronts Her Demons
- Folk-Country Icon Steve Earle Finds a New Home
- The Next Generation of Hair Bands
- Nonconformist Animal Collective Takes New York
- Herbie Hancock Reimagines Joni Mitchell
- A Temperamental Index of the Season's Debutantes
- The Anticipation Index: A Mathematical Breakdown
- The Best of the Rest in Music
Television
- Lucy Liu Returns to the Small Screen
- Will Hugh Jackman’s Huge Gamble Pay Off?
- Ken Burns Returns With Fifteen Hours on WWII
- The Big Bang Theory on CBS
- The O.C.'s Josh Schwartz, Take Two
- The Most Graphic Sex Ever Seen on Television
- Two Geek-tastic New Shows
- The Triumphant Return of 30 Rock
- The Anticipation Index: A Mathematical Breakdown
- The Best of the Rest in Television
Theater
- Mel Brooks Just Wants a Little Love
- Catching Up With Director Trevor Nunn
- Alison Pill on Telling Off F. Murray Abraham
- Hank Azaria Hooks Up With Aaron Sorkin
- What Claire Danes Learned From Jefferson Mays
- How Albee’s Zoo Story Birthed Peter and Jerry
- I Am My Own Wife Writer Doug Wright Does Disney
- The Anticipation Index: A Mathematical Breakdown
- The Best of the Rest in Theater