Commentary on Samson et Dalila – their two voices combine as if they were made to try | Opera

“Wdo you want to hear Samson and Delilah?” asked George Bernard Shaw in a scathing review of Saint-Saëns’ opera in the 1893 UK premiere. “I respectfully suggest, none.” Samson et Delilah is rich in that it offers another answer. But this is an odd opera and oratorio, which is united by its excellent music and the skill of two great singers.

In head-to-head action, the Royal Opera’s first revival of Richard JonesThe 2022 production is a success. South Korean tenor Seok Jong Baek returns as Samson, the role in which he made his Covent Garden household name. While the amazing chemistry with Elīna Garanča, Dalila of 2022, apparently it was limitedthis revival features the first part from the always amazing young mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina. New from the successful series of CarmensAkhmetshina displays a remarkable self-confidence and physical ease, her power of seduction is a fitting portrayal of the victimization of Baek’s hero.

Musically, Baek maintains his classic style, topped off with a 25-carat brilliance in his high register and a capacity for intimate pianissimos that ooze pathos. Akhmetshina’s Dalila was as irresistible as she should have been, shifting from sweetness and light to menace, veiled anger as circumstances required, her tone more controlled and expressive, her musical lines long and fluid. It’s not given much in terms of French words, but when a word is put together if it’s meant to be tested and it’s as catchy as this one, who cares? Their actions alone make this revival visible.

Then there was everything else. The performances of these two players are in danger of leaving the rest of the orchestra (not least because of Saint-Saëns) sounding a bit bland. Ossian Huskinson he was the best of the rest as Abimelech, Delilah’s ugly, satin-clad kinsman. William Thomas (Rabbi of Samson) and Łukasz Goliński (reprising his 2022 turn as the high priest of Dagon) was solid but struggled to get his act together in some of Saint-Saëns’ lackluster seasons.

On the floor Alexander Soddythe band is polished. There were some wonderfully windy solos and the strings were occasionally dug deep, although the storm in Act 3 didn’t go through without much danger. The song was well-mixed in its seamless and fearless renditions of its mid-electric dance to the famous Bacchanale.

Jones’ creation pits “worship” against “materialism” as the program’s manual explains. Also the nations of the Philistines (whose religion comes with a symbol) against the humility of the Israelites. There are many interesting stage pictures. The main building blocks of the set revolve; a bad, gambling picture makes a good impression; Philistines in uniform dance, dance and leer. Unfortunately, nothing overcomes the opera’s tendency toward dramatic stasis.