KATHRYN PERFORMS THE ROLE OF ERIKA IN BARBER’S ‘VANESSA’
MARCH 2011, RNCM, MANCHESTER
Kathryn performed in the role of Erika in the Royal Northern College of Music’s production of Barber’s ‘Vanessa’ in March 2011.
Vanessa – Opera in three acts,
Music: Samuel Barber
Libretto: Gian Carlo Menotti
First performed: Metropolitan Opera in New York City on 15th January 1958
Vanessa Maria Miro
Anatol Sipho Fubesi
Erika Kathryn Rudge
The Baroness Ivy Mak
The Doctor Andrew Fellows
Nicholas Jonathan Ainscough
Footman Matthew Kellett
Gareth Jones conductor
Stefan Janski director
Francisco Rodriguez-Weil set and costume design
John Bishop lighting design
RNCM Opera Orchestra
RNCM Chorus
“With her niece Erika by her side, Vanessa has been living the life of a recluse for 20 years, waiting for her lover Anatol to return to her. When Anatol’s son arrives in his place, it is Erika who is initially seduced by the younger man, but a cruel twist leads history to repeat itself…Set on a large, isolated country estate during a seemingly perpetual winter, Gian Carlo Menotti’s libretto has overtones of Ibsen, the psychodrama playing out against music that is at once elegant yet fraught with tension.Barber’s rarely performed score is a masterpiece of pent-up romanticism, sweepingly lyrical and with moments of incredible beauty – a 20th century American opera of the highest order.”