Samson had form by the time he fell for Delilah. The long-haired Israelite warrior had already transgressed with a woman in the next village, and slept with a harlot. Delilah the Philistine was his undoing. This archetypal story of a hero with a fatal flaw has inspired paintings and films but only one well-known opera, by Camille Saint-Saëns. His Samson et Dalila (1877), a French spectacle on a grand scale, was last staged at Covent Garden in 2004. The work is praised as the composer’s masterpiece, and in the same breath derided for its sacred-profane sensuality. Anyone tending towards the second opinion, which until last week included me, should get to the Royal Opera House at speed.
Covent Garden’s new production, conducted by Antonio Pappano, directed by Richard Jones and designed by Hyemi Shin, with lighting by Andreas Fuchs, presents the work with rigour and restraint, as well as the expected passion. It exposes, with exciting detail, the qualities of this piece. Musically the performance is a revelation, the Royal Opera orchestra on fire. These players rarely sound less than good, but on occasion they reach a different level of prowess. This was one. Pappano’s love of the score communicated itself both to them and through them.
