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Rosalind performed as Erika in Samuel Barber's first full-length opera, Vanessa.

"I worked very hard and as I was learning the role, going through the score, day in and day out, I began to think, 'Gee, it's a shame I don't have an aria.' So I went to Mr. Bing and I told him I wished I had an aria. You know when you're very young you have a lot of nerve; I wouldn't do that today. He said, 'wait a minute Rosalind,' and picked up the phone. He dialed and then I heard him say, 'Sam, I've got Rosalind Elias here. She wants to talk to you.' Well, I thought I was going to faint. But Bing handed me the phone and told me to talk, so I said, 'Mr. Barber, your opera is so wonderful and Erika is such a great role, but I wish I had an aria.' So Sam wrote 'Must the winter come so soon?' which, of course, has become one of the most famous American arias for mezzo-sopranos. And after that, everything happened. Erika changed my life; the roles were not small anymore."

- Rosalind Elias