The Virginia Opera opened its 43rd season Friday with a bold, artistic initiative – its first production of “Samson and Delilah.”
Composed by Camille Saint-Saëns with a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire, it’s the only Saint-Saëns opera performed regularly. It is blessed with splendid moments but marred by long periods of dullness.
This production is somewhat tame, considering the sexual psychodrama of the Bible story about the downfall of a holy strongman who relents to an evil seductress. However, as a new addition to the company’s repertoire, “Samson and Delilah” is a must-see for opera lovers as well as kitsch lovers. It’s worth the ticket if only for its memorable two Delilah arias and its finale Bacchanale “dance” when the brazen women and half-naked boys of the Temple of Dagon get rowdy.
Preventing this biblical bodice-ripper from slipping into parody is conductor Adam Turner’s restrained and elegant approach to the score. At all times it is fun, and it sometimes is musically wonderful.
It is essentially a two-character work with a large chorus, so everything depends on the two leads. The title roles require a heroic tenor opposite a seductive mezzo-soprano, and in this production the two singers rise to all the key moments.
Katharine Goeldner, heard locally to good effect as Herodias in “Salome,”is a no-nonsense Delilah who goes directly for the kill and scores in two of the great arias of the mezzo-soprano repertoire. “Printemps qui commence” (“Spring Begins”) and “Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix” (“My heart opens itself to your voice”) are breathtaking lovely. Perhaps the French intonation could be improved and perhaps she has some trouble singing softly, but Goeldner delivers when it is most needed.
Derek Taylor, as Samson, embodies a soul-searching leader whose downfall is pitiable in his own realization of his weakness. He does much to inject a sense of emotional truth into the opera. Taylorscored locally last season as Calaf in “Turandot” and shows the verve, virile voice and good looks that are making him a force in American and European opera. His risk-taking here is more in the dramatic sphere than vocally. In the latter, he seemed at home.
The chorus is magnificent, proving that the long hours of rehearsal result in a power that demands respect.
Setting the proceedings in a 1930s Fascist German atmosphere is superfluous. It seems more an afterthought than a fresh concept. It’s true that the biblical setting can seem campy, but the more modern setting removes much of the primitive grandeur that is the opera’s true essence. The choice leaves costume designer Court Watson saddled with dour, dark colors, even though his assignment is awesomely realized in the cast of more than 50 people.
Driscoll Otto’s lighting is curiously dark and lacking in the contrast that could have made it dramatic. Staged almost entirely in semi-darkness, some audience members may wonder if they are going blind, or if someone didn’t pay the electric bill. When the aim was to isolate the leads out of the darkness, spotlights didn’t work.
Conductor Turner drives the production hard to overcome the rhythmically lax Act One, which is an outright bore up until Delilah’s entrance. He succeeds brilliantly with the delicate orchestration of the second act and the flamboyant Bacchanale of the third. Director Paul Curran, who also choreographed, presents an orgiastic romp that looks more rehearsed than wild. Still, it’s a true wake-up, and better realized than the collapse of the temple.
The supporting cast is fine. The baritone Michael Chioldi as the High Priest of Dagon has a powerful Act II show-down with Delilah and makes the character straightforward and unwavering. The bass-baritone Rubin Casas is tyrannical and brief as Abimalech. Stefan Szkafarowsky lends soul-searching concern to the role of the Old Hebrew.
Even with some reservations, I wouldn’t have missed this rare production. Virginia Opera is proving it is not dominated by stodgy programming.