United States Saint-Saëns, Samson and Delilah (live performance model): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Seattle Opera / Ludovic Morlot (conductor). McCaw Hall, Seattle, 20.1.2023. (ZC)
Concert staging:
Stage director – David Gately
Set designer – Rick Araluce
Lighting designer – Connie Yun
Chorus Master – Michaella Calzaretta
Cast:
Delilah – J’Nai Bridges
Samson – Yonghoon Lee
High Priest of Dagon – Greer Grimsley
Abimelech – Andrew Potter
Philistine Messenger – John Marzano
First Philistine – James Galbraith
Second Philistine – Jonah spool
Old Hebrew – Daniel Sumegi
The final time Samson and Delilah was heard in Seattle, Lyndon Johnson was within the White House and Seattle was basking within the afterglow of internet hosting the World’s Fair two years prior, with its new Space Needle including a particular contact to the cityscape. That 1965 run featured a husband-and-wife duo: James McCracken within the function of Samson and Sandra Warfield because the temptress Delilah, whose vindictive quest finally devastates Dagon’s temple. For greater than half a century, this was the Seattle Opera’s sole manufacturing of the lurid work, till General Director Christina Scheppelmann revived Camille Saint-Saëns’s biblical epic as a live performance efficiency for the 2022-2023 season.
Samson and Delilah has all the trimmings of French grand opera: outstanding choruses, elaborate ensembles and even ballets. The work is held again by just a few inherent flaws: an absence of theatricality and occasional clumsiness within the narrative and libretto. All issues thought of; it’s no shock that the Seattle Opera opted for a live performance model as an alternative of placing on a fully-staged manufacturing.
Without the spectacle of the costumes, units and props of a full manufacturing, the burden fell on the singers, refrain and orchestra to deliver the opera to life with what stage director David Gately and conductor Ludovic Morlot wished from them. Leading the singers was a trio of huge voices, with mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, a rising star within the opera world, singing the function of Delilah. Bridges was making her Seattle Opera debut, however she isn’t any stranger to the area: she hails from Lakewood, Washington – simply south of Tacoma – and traveled far earlier than coming residence. Among different triumphs, Bridges has just lately starred in productions with the Metropolitan Opera and LA Opera of the minimalist masterpiece Akhnaten by Philip Glass.
Bridges’s Delilah was a revelation. Her richly hued voice commanded the stage and captivated the viewers. She conveyed all of Delilah’s contradictory feelings: sensuous, as when she sang ‘Printemps qui commence’ on the shut of Act I, and treacherous, as she schemes after which seduces to be taught the key of Samson’s power in Act II.
Her vary of expression evidenced a familiarity with the function lacked by dramatic tenor Yonghoon Lee, who was singing Samson for the primary time. Like Bridges, his profession is burgeoning with engagements worldwide. Lee’s Samson was monumental, filling the corridor with a daring palette of sound, and he was practically good within the function of liberator. But when Samson needed to be extra refined, Lee was much less profitable.
Rounding out the primary forged, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, lengthy a favourite with locals as Wotan within the metropolis’s Ring Cycle, handled the viewers with a return to the Emerald City because the High Priest of Dagon. Grimsley made for an unsettling, menacing spiritual determine. And audiences can sit up for a return of his booming presence later this 12 months to reprise Wotan within the Seattle Opera’s new manufacturing of Das Rheingold – a must-see for any opera fan.
The orchestra, made up largely of Seattle Symphony musicians below the professional route of Ludovic Morlot, their former conductor, was on stage simply behind the singers. One of Morlot’s nice strengths is his insistence on readability from the orchestra. He expertly drew out the exoticism of Saint-Saëns, making a vivid and dynamic soundscape that entranced the viewers. The orchestra’s steadiness was impeccable, which allowed the singers to shine with out distraction. Even within the ultimate act, when the main target turns to the well-known bacchanale, Morlot whipped up the wanted wildness to convey the scene whereas holding textures crystal clear. It was simple to recollect a time when the Seattle Symphony, below the professional steering of Morlot’s baton, had solid a definite and visionary id.
One ultimate thought on this live performance model of Samson and Delilah. The refrain, singing alternately as crowds of Hebrews and Philistines, is as a lot part of the motion as Samson, Delilah and the High Priest of Dagon. However, their placement in the back of McCaw Hall’s stage – buried behind the orchestra and soloists – muted their contribution and left the viewers at occasions straining to listen to them. When they may very well be heard, they sounded nice: whether or not as a worn-down but craving Hebrew refrain or as vengeful and seemingly victorious Philistines who imagine which have lastly subdued Samson, their tormentor.
Overall, the live performance was gorgeous and showcased the forged’s immense expertise, together with J’Nai Bridges’s charming Delilah, Yonghoon Lee’s highly effective Samson and Greer Grimsley’s menacing flip because the High Priest of Dagon. Despite the restrictions of the stage, the performances have been nothing wanting distinctive.
It was a memorable night time that left the viewers eagerly anticipating the following manufacturing from the Seattle Opera.
Zach Carstensen