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Samson and Delilah (opera)

Samson and Delilah (French: Samson et Dalila), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the Grossherzogliches (Grand Ducal) Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) on 2 December 1877 in a German translation.

Samson et Dalila

Ferdinand Lemaire

French

Samson and Delilah

2 December 1877 (1877-12-02)
Ducal Theatre, Weimar

The opera is based on the Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah found in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. It is the only opera by Saint-Saëns that is regularly performed. The second act love scene in Delilah's tent is one of the set pieces that define French opera. Two of Delilah's arias are particularly well known: "Printemps qui commence" ("Spring begins") and "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" ("My heart opens itself to your voice", also known as "Softly awakes my heart"), the latter of which is one of the most popular recital pieces in the mezzo-soprano/contralto repertoire.

Libretto[edit]

Although the libretto of Samson et Dalila is taken from Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges, the opera does not include the accounts of Samson's heroic deeds which earned him both fame and leadership among the Hebrews. The accounts of Samson's slaying of a lion and his triumph over 1000 Philistines while wielding only the jawbone of an ass are omitted. Saint-Saëns and his librettist most likely made this choice so the story would concentrate on Dalila. Samson, therefore, is presented as an inspiring leader rather than the almost supernatural hero of the Bible. It is his vulnerable, tender heart and his susceptibility to the protestations of love from a dissembling woman that is the focus of the plot. Delilah is portrayed as a manipulative, conniving, ruthless woman bent on revenge. Samson's numerous attempts to conceal the secret of his strength in the Biblical account are only referenced by Dalila in her duet with the High Priest in the opera, and the revelation that his strength resides in his hair occurs offstage. The opera includes some material not found in the Bible such as the death of Abimélech in act 1.[1]

Huebner, Steven (2006). . Oxford Univ. Press, US. ISBN 978-0-19-518954-4.

French Opera at the Fin de Siècle: Samson and Delilah

and Riemens, Leo (Trans. from German, Harry Early Jone. Plus expanded and annotated), A Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers: from the beginning of recorded sound to the present; Jeanne Gerville-Réache. Philadelphia, Chilton Book Company, 1969. ISBN 0-8019-5516-5

Kutsch, Karl-Josef

. "Samson et Dalila". In L. Macy (ed.). Grove Music Online.

Macdonald, Hugh

Notes


Cited sources

(1955). Complete Series of the Great Operas. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co. Inc. pp. 545–550.

Cross, Milton

(1976). The Complete Opera Book. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 819–821.

Kobbé, Gustav

; Borowski, Felix (1928). The Standard Opera Guide. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. pp. 318–320.

Upton, George Putnam

operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

Recordings of Samson and Delilah

: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

Samson and Delilah

Visual documentation of the Parisian premiere on

Gallica