Chamber Opera rescues worthy Barber opera from
near-oblivion
'Vanessa'
By John von Rhein Chicago Tribune critic
October 13, 2008
"Chamber Opera minimizes the flaws while
playing up the virtues. It delivers capable singing by a
cast of Chicago-area artists, plus urgent yet sensitive
conducting by Victoria Bond, a staunch champion of Menotti's
operas. The staging by Francis Menotti, based on his late
father's Spoleto Festival production, is simple but effective."
Rarely staged 'Vanessa' a solid triumph
OPERA REVIEW | Chamber Opera Chicago dazzles in Samuel Barber's
'lost' gem
October 13, 2008
BY WYNNE DELACOMA
"Conductor Victoria Bond and her chamber
orchestra found the color and nuance in Barber's ingenious
orchestral writing."
Wynne Delacoma, former
Sun-Times classical music critic, is a free-lance writer.
VICTORIA BOND CONDUCTS CHICAGO PREMIERE OF SAMUEL BARBER'S
VANESSA
CHAMBER OPERA CHICAGO PRODUCTION MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE WORK'S PREMIERE
October 11, 17, and 19 at Athenaeum Theatre
Chamber Opera Chicago has selected composer/conductor Victoria
Bond to conduct the Chicago premiere of Samuel Barber's
Pulitzer Prize-winning American masterpiece Vanessa, marking
the 50th anniversary year of the opera's premiere. Chamber
Opera Chicago's production is staged by Francis Menotti,
son of Gian-Carlo Menotti, the librettist and director of
the original 1958 Metropolitan Opera production. Victoria
Bond conducts Marcy Stonikas and Sarah Gartshore in the
double-cast title role; the company's Artistic Director,
Barbara Landis, sings the part of Erika. Anatol is sung
by Frederick J. Joseph III, and Lyric Opera of Chicago's
Philip Kraus appears as The Old Doctor, all accompanied
by a 33-piece orchestra.
Three performances take place at the Athenaeum Theatre:
Saturday, October 11 (7:30 pm); Friday, October 17 (7:30
pm), and Sunday, October 19 (3:00 pm).
Victoria Bond is a particularly appropriate choice to lead
Vanessa. Last season, she scored a decisive success conducting
"A Brilliant Life, a Brilliant Night," Chamber
Opera Chicago's tribute to Gian-Carlo Menotti, the librettist
of Vanessa. And like Samuel Barber, Bond is that rarity
in concert music, a singing composer: while studying voice
with William Vennard at the University of Southern California,
she recorded with Bethany Beardslee and was a featured soloist
on the first recording of Harry Partch's Delusion of the
Fury.
Moreover, Bond is active as an opera composer herself:
scenes from her chamber opera Mrs. President (2002), based
on the life of Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run
for president, were performed by New York City Opera in
2001 as part of the company's Vox reading series, and her
opera Travels (1994), a full-evening work based on Jonathan
Swift's Gulliver tale, was praised by Opera News for its
"sparkling, tuneful score."
Given her deep understanding of singing and wide-ranging
conducting repertoire, it is small wonder that Bond - the
first woman to be awarded a doctorate in conducting from
The Juilliard School - is in demand for opera conducting
engagements from Chicago to Beijing.
Says Bond, "Samuel Barber has been an inspiration
to me ever since I was a child, when I heard my father,
a professional basso who sang at the New York City Opera,
sing Dover Beach. I immediately fell in love with this music;
when I decided to become a composer and learned that Barber,
like me, had also been a singer, he became my role model."
Highlights
November 22: New York Philharmonic
presents "Bridges" at Kidzone
Bond's composition "Bridges" for clarinet,
bass clarinet, erhu and pipa will be performed
by members of the New York Philharmonic
on their "Kidzone" series at Avery Fischer Hall.
April: Dallas Symphony performs
"What's the Point of Counterpoint?"
The Dallas Symphony performs Bond's composition
on their Young Peoples' Concerts in April
