Description
Saint-Saëns : Samson et Dalila
Dazzling as Dalila, mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča illuminates Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila in a production not to be missed.
Pious restraint comes face to face with sensuous hedonism in Camille Saint-Saëns’s grand-opera retelling of the Bible story of Samson and Delilah.
Multi-Olivier Award winning director Richard Jones returns to The Royal Opera to stage this spectacular fin-de-siècle masterpiece, not performed at Covent Garden since 2004. Elīna Garanča stars as the Philistine Dalila, SeokJong Baek as the inspiring Jewish hero Samson and Antonio Pappano conducts the full forces of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. With superb singing in solos and duets of great intimacy and fervour, gorgeous music with thrilling orchestral interludes, and splendid choral numbers for the Royal Opera Chorus – this is a performance to remember.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
- Introduction to Samson et Dalila
- Antonio Pappano discusses the music of Samson et Dalila
Saint-Saëns : Samson et Dalila [DVD & Blu-ray]
Music : Camille Saint-Saëns
Libretto : Ferdinand Lemaire
Samson : Seokjong Baek
Dalila : Elīna Garanča
Grand Prêtre de Dagon : Łukasz Goliński
Abimélech : Blaise Malaba
Premier Philistin : Alan Pingarrón
Deuxième Philistin : Chuma Sijeqa
Messager Philistin : Thando Mjandana
Ancien Hébreu : Goderdzi Janelidze
Royal Opera Chorus (chorus master : William Spaulding)
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductor : Antonio Pappano
Stage direction : Richard Jones
Sets : Hyemi Shin
Costumes : Nicky Gillibrand
Lighting design : Andreas Fuchs
Choreography : Lucy Burge
“Elīna Garanča’s performance in Saint-Saëns’s opera smoulders with vindictive passion.
Music director Antonio Pappano draws huge power and passion from Saint-Saëns’s score and at the final reckoning his faith in the music is the religion that carries the day here.” — THE FINANCIAL TIMES
“… a surging biblical epic with star turns … Richard Jones’ entertaining new Royal Opera staging …” — THE TIMES
“Garanča is an irresistible Dalila, seductively smooth in submission, steely in command and appealing in between… the Covent Garden choir sing lustily… The ROH orchestra nicely brings out the different moods that characterise the Israelites and their oppressors.” — BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE
“SeokJong Baek … makes a mightily impressive Royal Opera stage debut. Conducted by Antonio Pappano, the orchestra relishes the melodious score without wallowing in its lushness, however great the temptation.” — THE GUARDIAN
“It has unquestionable strengths: musically it is extremely fine; and it’s strikingly filmed by Peter Jones… [Garanča] is simply magnificent throughout, her tone dark and velvety, those low notes all sumptuously in place, her upper registers gleaming… There are strong performances elsewhere.” — GRAMOPHONE
“Pappano conducts with an intriguing blend of vigour and perfume, and the orchestra and chorus are excellent. SeokJohn Baek makes a house and role debut as Samson and is exciting. Elina Garanča is a seductive Dalila… They spark well off each other. The remaining cast is solid.” — OPERA NOW
“Dalila, Elina Garanča, is the magnetic center of the performance, magnificently costumed and staged as a sensual primordial power, which everyone stands powerless against” — KLASSIK (QUARTERLY)
HD recording : Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) | 2022
TV direction : Peter Jones
Release date : 01 January 2024
Distribution : Naxos Distribution
1 DVD
Reference : OA1371D
Barcode : 809478013716
Running time : 133 min. (film) + 12 min. (bonus)
Subtitles : FR / ENG / GER / JAP / KOR
Image : Color, 16/9, NTSC
Sound : PCM 2.0, DTS 5.1
Region code : 0
1 BLU-RAY
Reference : OABD7315D
Barcode : 809478073154
Running time : 133 min. (film) + 12 min. (bonus)
Subtitles : FR / ENG / GER / JAP / KOR
Image : Color, 16/9, Full HD
Sound : PCM 2.0, DTS HD Master audio 5.1
Region code : A, B, C
Founded as a production company by Hans Petri in 1999, Opus Arte released its first DVD in 2001. From the outset, the label has been releasing recordings from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, one of the closest and longest-standing relationships they have had. So much so that in 2007 the ROH acquired Opus Arte, which in turn became their in-house DVD label. In 2018 the label joined the Naxos family, although its continues to work very closely with the ROH and maintains its base of operations at the Royal Opera House in London.
Opus Arte now boasts a catalogue of over 800 programmes, including recordings in 4K, 3-D and Dolby ATMOS, and was one of the first labels to release high definition content on Blu-ray. They proudly associate with many of the world’s finest arts organisations, which aside from the Royal Opera House includes Glyndebourne, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Teatro Real, Bayreuth, Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
As of 2024, Naxos, Opus Arte and Bel Air Classiques have agreed to pull their resources together to further highlight their shared values of artistic excellence, innovation and transmission.
![](mailto:?Subject=Saint-Saëns : Samson et Dalila&Body=<h2>[ DVD - BLU-RAY ]</h2>
<img class="alignnone wp-image-63081" src="https://www.belairclassiques.com/wp-content/uploads/acf4786e5dd640bdb93adf6a683c4c11-e1719066545690.png" alt="" width="100" height="66" />
Dazzling as Dalila, mezzo-soprano <strong>Elīna Garanča</strong> illuminates <strong>Camille Saint-Saëns’ <em>Samson et Dalila</em></strong> in a production not to be missed.){kind=link}