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Because it's better than doing a problem set?
Because evidently it's the cool thing to do: My Thoughts on Vanessa:
Well, I don't hate it. The most common criticism seems to be that the libretto is too Romantic and overblown, which it is, but I don't mind. My problem with the libretto is that, in combination with the music, it stretches the English language to the breaking point - it forces the stress onto the wrong syllable and the sentences are often very awkward. And "Vanessa" is not a particularly euphonious name.
Such problems aside, I think it has good character development, and - OK, quick summary. Vanessa, our titular character, has been waiting in her house in a vaguely Eastern European country, with the mirrors covered, for her lover Anatol, who left her twenty or so years ago. Her niece Erika lives with her and takes care of her; Vanessa's mother, who is Not Talking To Vanessa for an undisclosed reason [It's because V. got rid of Anatol's baby, presumably] also lives there.
The opera opens with the preparations for Anatol's return. Unhappily, it's not him, but his son - V's Anatol is dead. The young Anatol sleeps with Erika, and the first act ends. Erika can't sort out her feelings about Anatol, who has asked her to marry him - but she wants real love and not just obligation. Anatol, however, is determined to marry either her or her aunt; since Vanessa is obsessed with Anatol's father [and not very bright], she is more amenable.
There is an engagement party - Erika refuses to come and runs out to the lake, in the middle of winter. The party is stopped to go and search for her,and Anatol eventually finds her. She refuses to tell Vanessa what happened, and, when pressed about what happened between her and Anatol, she remains silent. Her grandmother asks what happened to the baby; Erika responds "It will not be born." At this point the grandmother stops talking to her as well.
Vanessa and Anatol get married and leave the old house for Paris. Erika decides to stay and take care of her grandmother and the house. She orders the servants to cover the mirrors and the portraits again. The last line of the opera is "Now it is my turn to wait."
There is no question that no one in the opera is particularly sympathetic. Vanessa is self-absorbed and vain; Anatol is horribly slimy; Erika is also very selfish (although less, I think, than Vanessa). Still, I don't think that Erika needs to "get over it," as many critics say. We often lay "what I would do" over motivations, which isn't fair - no, I wouldn't have slept with Anatol, because he is fairly obviously a horrible person, but I also haven't been stuck taking care of my crazy aunt and her crazy mother for ten years.
I do think that the basic plot is good, and I would read a novelization, as long as it wasn't written by Menotti. One of the problems was that the prose, or poetry, whatever it was, was very purple, and sometimes laughable. Nonetheless, the characters have more personality than any Bel Canto heroine besides maybe Violetta.
The novelization comes into it again because I was not overwhelmed by the music. It was pretty, I suppose, if you could ignore the disconnect with the words (which I couldn't), but I wouldn't voluntarily listen to it again. I feel that way about a lot of things, many of which are by Strauss and the rest of which are by Puccini, so Barber is in good company.
So, it's not brilliant, but it's not bad either - I just can't get excited about it.
(The staging was fine. Uninspired and uninspiring, but unobtrusive.)/lj-cut>
Well, I don't hate it. The most common criticism seems to be that the libretto is too Romantic and overblown, which it is, but I don't mind. My problem with the libretto is that, in combination with the music, it stretches the English language to the breaking point - it forces the stress onto the wrong syllable and the sentences are often very awkward. And "Vanessa" is not a particularly euphonious name.
Such problems aside, I think it has good character development, and - OK, quick summary. Vanessa, our titular character, has been waiting in her house in a vaguely Eastern European country, with the mirrors covered, for her lover Anatol, who left her twenty or so years ago. Her niece Erika lives with her and takes care of her; Vanessa's mother, who is Not Talking To Vanessa for an undisclosed reason [It's because V. got rid of Anatol's baby, presumably] also lives there.
The opera opens with the preparations for Anatol's return. Unhappily, it's not him, but his son - V's Anatol is dead. The young Anatol sleeps with Erika, and the first act ends. Erika can't sort out her feelings about Anatol, who has asked her to marry him - but she wants real love and not just obligation. Anatol, however, is determined to marry either her or her aunt; since Vanessa is obsessed with Anatol's father [and not very bright], she is more amenable.
There is an engagement party - Erika refuses to come and runs out to the lake, in the middle of winter. The party is stopped to go and search for her,and Anatol eventually finds her. She refuses to tell Vanessa what happened, and, when pressed about what happened between her and Anatol, she remains silent. Her grandmother asks what happened to the baby; Erika responds "It will not be born." At this point the grandmother stops talking to her as well.
Vanessa and Anatol get married and leave the old house for Paris. Erika decides to stay and take care of her grandmother and the house. She orders the servants to cover the mirrors and the portraits again. The last line of the opera is "Now it is my turn to wait."
There is no question that no one in the opera is particularly sympathetic. Vanessa is self-absorbed and vain; Anatol is horribly slimy; Erika is also very selfish (although less, I think, than Vanessa). Still, I don't think that Erika needs to "get over it," as many critics say. We often lay "what I would do" over motivations, which isn't fair - no, I wouldn't have slept with Anatol, because he is fairly obviously a horrible person, but I also haven't been stuck taking care of my crazy aunt and her crazy mother for ten years.
I do think that the basic plot is good, and I would read a novelization, as long as it wasn't written by Menotti. One of the problems was that the prose, or poetry, whatever it was, was very purple, and sometimes laughable. Nonetheless, the characters have more personality than any Bel Canto heroine besides maybe Violetta.
The novelization comes into it again because I was not overwhelmed by the music. It was pretty, I suppose, if you could ignore the disconnect with the words (which I couldn't), but I wouldn't voluntarily listen to it again. I feel that way about a lot of things, many of which are by Strauss and the rest of which are by Puccini, so Barber is in good company.
So, it's not brilliant, but it's not bad either - I just can't get excited about it.
(The staging was fine. Uninspired and uninspiring, but unobtrusive.)/lj-cut>