It was composed in 1956–1957 and was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 15, 1958 under the baton of Dimitri Mitropoulos in a production designed by Cecil Beaton and directed by Menotti.

Barber revised the opera in 1964, reducing the four acts to the three-act version most commonly performed today.

However, she cancelled six weeks before the opening night and Eleanor Steber replaced her, making the role her own for a long time.

Of the final quintet, however, New York Times critic Howard Taubman said it is '...a full-blown set-piece that packs an emotional charge and that would be a credit to any composer anywhere today.

(recorded by Denyce Graves and Roberta Alexander), and the last-act quintet, To Leave, to Break.

In many print media it says that the libretto of Gian Carlo Menotti is based on a work of Isak Dinesen (pen name of Karen Blixen), described variously as a "short story" or "novella".

'"[7] Blixen was present at the premiere of the opera, but part way through the performance she pleaded illness and left the theater.

After he left, she covered up all the mirrors of the house until his expected return, unwilling to face looking at her aging self.

She lives alone with her mother, the Baroness, who has refused to speak to her for twenty years, and with her niece, Erika.

Thinking that the man who arrives and who is called Anatol is her former lover, Vanessa refuses to reveal her face to him until he says he still loves her.

Erika has fallen in love with Anatol, but resists his marriage proposal because she doubts his sincerity.

Finally Erika, who, unbeknownst to everyone else, is pregnant, comes downstairs, but faints, clutching her stomach, while the doctor is making the announcement.