Samson et Dalila

Opera in three acts
Sung in French

From Opéra de Paris (Opéra Bastille)
Recorded October 2016

Running Time: Approximate 175min

CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor                    Philippe Jordan
Staged by                    Damiano Michieletto
Sets designs Paolo Fantin
Costumes designs Carla Teti
Lighting design Alessandro Carletti
Chorus Master José Luís Basso

Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra de Paris

ARTISTIC TEAM
Dalila Anita Rachvelishvili
Samson               Aleksandrs Antonenko        
Le Grand Prêtre de Dagon Egils Silins
Abimélech Nicolas Testé
Un vieillard hébreu Nicolas Cavallier
Un messager philistin John Bernard
Premier philistin Luca Sannaï
Deuxième philistin Jian-Hong Zhao

PRESENTATION

Lightning streaks through the skies as Dalila declares her love to Samson in one of the finest arias of romantic opera. “My heart awakens to your voice like a flower to the kiss of dawn.” An enchanting yet treacherous beauty… When the thunder at last rumbles, Dalila betrays Samson and offers him up to his enemies: “Come up, for this time he has shown me all his heart”, she whispers to them in the night (The Old Testament, Book of Judges). Based on a violent and erotic biblical story, Saint-Saëns’s opera – composed in 1877, much to Liszt’s insistence – would not be performed at the Palais Garnier until fifteen years later. This first Parisian performance in 1892 included the hitherto unperformed “Dance Of The Priestesses”. Nevertheless, it became one of the most performed French operas in the world, together with Faust and Carmen. Conducted by Philippe Jordan, this new production brings back a repertoire masterpiece that has not been performed at the Paris Opera for twenty-five years. Ever sensational as a femme fatale, Anita Rachvelishvili plays the murderous Priestess in a production staged by Damiano Michieletto.