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Barber: Vanessa
Eleanor Steber (Vanessa), Nicolai Gedda (Anatol), Rosalind Elias (Erika), Regina Resnik (The Old Baroness), Giorgio Tozzi (The Old Doctor), George Cehanovsky (Nicholas), Robert Nagy (Footman)
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Dimitri Mitropoulos
There is the great pleasure of hearing young Nicolai Gedda, enchanting of voice, greatly musical, singing faultless English...[Steber is] strong in temperament, generous of voice, and well inside...
Barber: Vanessa
Eleanor Steber (Vanessa), Nicolai Gedda (Anatol), Rosalind Elias (Erika), Regina Resnik (The Old Baroness), Giorgio Tozzi (The Old Doctor), George Cehanovsky (Nicholas), Robert Nagy (Footman)
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Dimitri Mitropoulos
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There is the great pleasure of hearing young Nicolai Gedda, enchanting of voice, greatly musical, singing faultless English...[Steber is] strong in temperament, generous of voice, and well inside...
About
Samuel Barber’s first opera was an outstanding success when first performed in 1958 at the Metropolitan opera and this recording was made with the original cast and conductor. Eleanor Steber (for whom Barber had written Knoxville) created the title role. The work follows traditional operatic form with arias, duets and ensembles within an essentially romantic — and sometimes nostalgic —musical language characteristic of Barber’s other works.
Recorded in 1958
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
February 1978
There is the great pleasure of hearing young Nicolai Gedda, enchanting of voice, greatly musical, singing faultless English...[Steber is] strong in temperament, generous of voice, and well inside the character. Rosalind Elias had the lioness's share of the music and responded splendidly at all levels.
2011 edition
This recording was made at the time of its first performance in 1958, but no apologies are needed for its quality; it stands the test of time as well as does the opera itself, and this reissue is well worth seeking out.
