BSO — 2026/01/10

 This evening the BSO returns to Symphony Hall. Thwy open this part of the season with the first of a series of concerts with the heading "E Pluribus Unum," celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

 Here's how WCRB describes it: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-10/samuel-barbers-vanessa-with-the-bso

Saturday, January 10, 2026
8:00 PM

To begin the Boston Symphony’s E Pluribus Unum, or From Many, One, a broad, multi-concert exploration of American music, Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Samuel Barber’s hauntingly beautiful opera “Vanessa,” in collaboration with the Boston Lyric Opera. This is the BSO’s first full performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning work, which The New York Times lauded as “the best American opera ever presented” when it premiered to 17 curtain calls at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Jennifer Holloway, soprano (Vanessa)
Samantha Hankey, mezzo-soprano (Erika)
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (The Old Baroness)
Ganson Salmon, tenor (Anatol)
Patrick Carfizzi, baritone (The Old Doctor)
Wei Wu, bass (Major Domo/Footman)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Betsy Burleigh, guest choral conductor
Boston Lyric Opera Chorus
Brett Hodgdon, conductor

Samuel BARBER Vanessa

The BSO performance detail page puts it this way: https://www.bso.org/events/jan-8-10-barber-vanessa?performance=2026-01-10-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor Jennifer Holloway, soprano (Vanessa) Samantha Hankey, mezzo-soprano (Erika) Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (The Old Baroness) Ganson Salmon, tenor (Anatol) Patrick Carfizzi, baritone (The Old Doctor) Wei Wu, bass (Major Domo/Footman) Alexandra Dietrich, staging coordinator Tanglewood Festival Chorus Betsy Burleigh, guest choral conductorBoston Lyric Opera ChorusBrett Hodgdon, conductorBARBER 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.

At the page there are arrows giving links to the performer bios and (hooray!) to the program notes.

Perhaps you can find the libretto somewhere. The program notes willl give a bit of an idea of what is going on, but it will be almost impossible to follow word for word without the libretto. 

The favorable review in the Intelligencer https://www.classical-scene.com/2026/01/10/bso-vanessa/ might be interesrting.

Well, I heard the Saturday afternoon broadcast from the Met in 1958 and didn't much care fior it then. I was there on Thursday evening this week and still don't like it. Apart from a couple of spots (especially the party scene) the music is unmelodic to my ears, and even with supertitles it wasn't always easy to figure out what they were singing. The story itself is kind of interesting, and the guy who sang the role of the Old Doctor was very good, but overall, I can't recommend listening unless you're curious or really like 20th Century music.