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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 15 general entries.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Vanessa
It's her turn to wait. After Vanessa and Anatol leave, Erika says that all of the mirrors are to be covered, the gate to be kept locked at all times, she will not receive any visitors - and that it is now her turn to wait. An interesting line comes right before Vanessa and Anatol leave - it is said that Vanessa will die empty-handed. Perhaps this means that Anatol will regret marrying Vanessa and will leave her?
Paris. Anatol talks about how his house will be the most beautiful in Paris. The Doctor goes on about how he will miss Vanessa, how he took care of her when she was young (chicken pox, measles, mumps), and how he hopes that she will not forget her old doctor. Vanessa, for her part, still doesn't realise that Erika has feelings for Anatol - in fact, Erika tells Vanessa that she was in love with some other man (perhaps the young minister?), but was getting over it, realising that he wasn't the man for her.
It will not be born. Erika had been trying to get to the lake, but in the cold she fainted. We are never told if she caused the miscarriage or if the cold caused it, but when Anatol returns with Erika, he says that he found her in a ravine, her dress all wet, torn, and covered in blood.
| Act IV begins with Vanessa, the Doctor, and the Baroness waiting for news that Erika has been found. How does Vanessa say that she thinks of Erika? | Barber's "Vanessa"
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As her child. I'm not sure about this, but I think in some productions this may allude to the idea that Erika is actually Vanessa's child (result of her romance with Anatol).
Erika. Erika hears the Doctor announcing the engagement and cries out that she is pregnant with Anatol's child. Then she runs out, wearing only her dress, into the snow. The Baroness saw her run out and went downstairs to try and get someone to help save Erika. Vanessa and Anatol rush in and Anatol runs out after Erika.
Erika and the Baroness. The Baroness won't come down because she is against Vanessa's marriage to Anatol (Erika should marry him, Vanessa is selfish, etc.). Erika won't come down because she is in love with Anatol (and pregnant with is child). Vanessa sends the Doctor up to try and get one or both of them to come down. Erika starts to come out but sees Vanessa and Anatol kissing - so she runs back into her room.
Doctor. The Doctor, because he is an old, trusted friend, was asked to do the happy duty. However, when Act III opens we find that he's drunk and thinks he'll mess up the speech!
The Old Baroness. When Erika says that she doesn't want to marry Anatol because Vanessa loves him more, the Baroness tells her that sometimes you have to fight for love. Erika still doesn't want to - and after everyone leaves for church she yells that her answer (to Anatol's question of marriage) is no.
| In Act II, what had Vanessa and Anatol been doing while Erika and the Baroness talked? | Barber's "Vanessa"
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Ice skating. Vanessa says that Anatol's father had been a much better skater, Anatol replies that he's luckier (than his father - probably because he has Vanessa while his father is dead). When they return to the house, Anatol asks why Erika hadn't come along. Erika replies that Anatol didn't ask her to.
yes. Because he and Erika had spent the night together, we find out from Erika that Anatol would do the honorable thing - if that is what Erika wanted. When the old Baroness tells Erika to do what she has to do, Erika refuses - saying that she will only marry if Anatol loved her as much as she loved him. (She says that when she looks into his eyes, she trembles, but that she doesn't see the same reaction from him.)
One. In Act II, the old Baroness finds out from Erika that while Anatol had seduced her (he 'made' her drink too much wine), it only lasted one night and she had refused him every night since.
| Anatol's son eventually does come to the house in search of Vanessa. Does Vanessa ever realise that Anatol II isn't the man with whom she had had a romance with? | Barber's "Vanessa"
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yes. After she has her little bit about how she won't show herself until he says that he loves her, Anatol answers that he "shall" love her - not "does". She comes to the realisation that this isn't her Anatol and that he is some sort of imposter. In her grief, Erika comes in and tries to get Anatol to leave so that Vanessa won't be hurt any further.
It was never explicitly stated. We are never told exactly why the Baroness refuses to speak to Vanessa, but after Erika loses the child she was carrying the Baroness stops speaking to her as well.
| The opera opens with Vanessa waiting for her lover, Anatol, to return for her. How long had it been since Vanessa had seen Anatol? | Barber's "Vanessa"
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20 years. That's a long time to wait for a man, isn't it? In the meantime, Vanessa busied herself with her azaelas (as we learn towards the end of the opera), and making sure everything was prepared just in case Anatol happened to arrive. Oh, and she made sure all the mirrors and protraits were covered - she didn't want to see that she had aged.
New York. The Metropolitan Opera was the first to perform this work on January 15, 1958. It was also the first American opera at the Muic Festival in Salzburg, Austria. Although the opera got great reviews in New York, the Austrians were less than enthusiastic.
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