Apart from Porgy andBess, Samuel Barber's Vanessa (1958) is considered by many to be the first operatic masterpiece by an American composer. Dimitri Mitropoulos, who assisted Barber with the orchestration for Vanessa, proclaimed, "At last, an American grand opera!" The composer was nearly 50 years old at time of the premiere, and some wondered why Barber had waited so long to compose an opera. Barber responded by stating that he needed "long-term preparation for the job," citing the combined challenges of "how to write for orchestra, how to write for chorus and ballet, [and] how to write for solo voice and orchestra," as the difficulties of the genre.

Barber's biggest challenge in composing an opera was finding a high-quality libretto. The composer had been attempting to find one since as far back as 1934, but began searching in earnest during the early '40s. Communications with literary figures, such as Thornton Wilder and James Agee, came to nothing, and so, in the spring of 1952, Barber turned to Gian Carlo Menotti, his partner in life and fellow composer. Having written the libretti for his own operas, Menotti was well prepared for the task, and the two eventually settled on Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales as a suitable inspiration. Menotti immediately drafted a first scene for Barber, and by the end of that summer the scene's music was composed. However, Menotti's work on his own opera, The Saint of Bleeker Street, kept him from completing the libretto for another two years; he was finally prompted to act by Barber's refusal to compose another note of music until he had the entire drama in hand. By the end of the summer of 1955 the libretto was complete.

Set in Scandanavia in the first decade of the twentieth century, the opera tells the story of a middle aged woman (Vanessa) and her young niece (Erika) whose experiences with love are tragically parallel. Having waited many years in self-imposed solitude for the return of her lost love, Anatol, Vanessa meets and falls in love with his son (also named Anatol). Erika also falls in love with the young man, and the opportunistic visitor seduces and impregnates her. Anatol rejects Erika's love and instead marries (for suspicious reasons) the elder Vanessa—who knows nothing of the affair—leaving Erika to begin her own long period of loneliness.

Vanessa was premiered on January 23, 1958, at the Metropolitan Opera. The opera received stellar reviews, and Barber was hailed as a national hero. Much credit belongs to the renowned American soprano, Eleanor Steber, who stepped into the title role at relatively short notice (Sena Jurinac, the original choice, had taken ill); her performance was a triumph. Unfortunately, the European premiere was less successful. It is, however, frequently revived by American companies. Barber made slight revisions to the work in 1964, eliminating some sections he felt to be dramatically stagnant, and removing one especially difficult section (the coloratura "skating" aria).

The opera contains a number of pieces that have entered the repertory of singers with an interest in contemporary lyric theater. These include Erika's haunting "Must the Winter Come so Soon," Vanessa's poignant "Do Not Utter a Word," The Doctor's waltz, "Under the Willow Tree" and the "Quintet" of the final act.

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