Song Synopsis:
A middle aged woman named Vanessa refuses to take covers off the mirrors in her home until her beloved Anatol comes back to her, and she has been waiting for him for 20 years. Anatol finally returns and Vanessa covers her face until he tells her he loves her. Vanessa does not recognize Anatol, who is actually Anatol?s son who goes by the same name as his father. Vanessa is upset, but her niece Erika befriends him and he seduces her. When he proposes marriage, Erika says no because she cannot believe he is being sincere. Vanessa declares that she still loves Anatol, and Erika refuses his proposal again. On New Year?s eve, Vanessa sends the drunk doctor to find Erika and The Baroness so she can announce her engagement to Anatol, but Erika faints from the stress of her early secret pregnancy. She runs away in the hope that her body will be stressed to the point of a natural abortion but is found. As she recovers, Vanessa asks Anatol to take her somewhere far away. Erika tells her mother that she was pregnant but lost the baby but will not tell Vanessa, who is moving away to Paris with Anatol. Erika covers up all the mirrors in the house to avoid seeing herself age until Anatol returns for her, just as Vanessa did for twenty years.	

Character:
Erika, a young woman confused by her desires and the people around her.

Song Context:
While waiting for Anatol to return, Erika asks her aunt Vanessa why the winter must be so dreary and come to their castle.

Fun Facts:
1) Vanessa is considered one of the great American operas and won composer Samuel Barber the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1958. 
2) Rosalind Elias originated the role at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958.