Saint-Saëns considered
the role of Dalila so central to the
plot that he is said to have thought
of calling the opera after her. Her
two arias from Act 2 had been heard
in private performance five years before
the staging of this the composer’s first
opera. Samson and Dalila was first conceived,
in the 1860s, as an oratorio. However,
it was championed in Germany as an opera
and received its first performance,
sung in German, on December 2nd
1877 conducted by Liszt. The Paris premiere
was given at a minor theatre in 1890
and met with great success,. It was
introduced to the more prestigious ‘Paris
Opera’ two years later and garnered
over one hundred performances in the
following five years. It was anticipating
its five hundredth airing at the time
of the composer’s death in 1921 (booklet
note pp.5-6). Following concert performances
in New York it was first presented at
the ‘Met’ in 1895. The theatre opened
its 1915-1916 season with a new production
featuring Caruso as Samson. The performance
on these discs features the conducting
of Maurice Abravanel making his Met
debut at the age of 33, then the youngest
conductor in the company’s history.
However, he only conducted at the theatre
for two seasons finding the restrictive
rehearsal times inimical to the realisation
of his musical vision. His interpretation
as represented here is musical and well
shaped, giving both lyrical and dramatic
impetus. Some commentators (p.12) have
found his interpretation to be the most
persuasive and vibrant on disc. Given
the relatively thin orchestral sound
I would not be so definitive. After
all, the work has drawn interpretations
from several notable conductors in the
past forty years or so, and their superior
sound gives far greater impact to the
work’s often heavily-scored and complex
music.
Of the singing, the
most distinguished comes from Ezio Pinza
as the High Priest. A baritone normally
sings this role, but I must say that
Pinza’s steady, sonorous, tightly focused
singing (CD1 tr. 22) gives the part
the importance it deserves. When the
High Priest taunts Samson to sing to
the Philistines of his lover (CD2 tr.
16) he is particularly effective. I
do not find René Maison’s Samson
all that vocally appealing. As one would
expect of a Belgian-born singer his
French is excellent and his diction
is such as to express the nuances of
the words. However, his dramatic tenor
does not lay easily on my ears. He has
a tendency to squeeze the note as he
puts pressure on the voice (CD 1 tr.
29). Elsewhere he becomes unduly lachrymose.
Much of what Maison lacks in style and
tone can be heard in the singing of
César Vezzani in the appendix
which includes Act 2 scene 3 and the
‘Mill Scene’ from Act 3 (CD 2 trs. 22-32
and particularly the last three). The
comparisons can be extended to that
between the lyric mezzo of the Swede
Gertrud Wettergren and the fuller-toned
Marie Duchêne. Certainly Wettergren
embarks on ‘Mon Coeur s’ouvre à
ta voix’ (CD 2 tr. 2) steadily and with
appealing phrasing, but there is no
great sense of the meaning of the words.
The same is true whether she is tempting
Samson (CD 1 tr. 17) or haggling with
the High Priest. At the end of the day
her voice lacks the ideal weight of
tone and sexual sensuousness that is
essential to the role.
The booklet note by
London Green is interesting but not
up to the standard I have come to expect
in this series. Likewise the track-related
synopsis is somewhat terse. Richard
Caniell is open regarding the interpolation
of missing words at disc breaks in the
originals and also groove defects that
are audible in the passage succeeding
the Act 3 ballet. I have not been able
to compare the generally acceptable
sound here with that on the Walhall
issue of the same performance. This
issue is recommendable for Pinza enthusiasts
or collectors drawn to the complete
Act 2 scene 2 sung by César Vezzani
and Marie Duchêne. It is claimed
(p.22) to be the first time this has
been available on LP or CD.
Robert J Farr
Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan
Opera, New York/Maurice Abravanel 