Samson et Dalila

Today, “Samson et Dalila” is undoubtedly one of the best-known of Camille Saint-Saëns’s thirteen operas, being more present in the repertoire of international stages than most other French 19th century compositions. During Saint-Saëns’s lifetime, the opera was already regarded as the pinnacle of his dramatic stage works.

The fact that the work’s genesis and first performances nonetheless posed substantial difficulties is shown in this edition by Andreas Jacob and Fabien Guilloux (libretto edition). A detailed recount of this complex history, based on meticulous comparisons of all libretti and other musical sources, is the great merit of this critical edition.

The edition contains the full score, edited versions of both original libretti, a historical Foreword (Fr/En/Ger), a Critical Commentary (Eng), facsimile pages of “Livret de mise-en-scène” from the first Paris production, and a musical appendix containing the “Air de Ballet” (which was inserted before the Bacchanale in act 3 for performances at the Paris Opéra). The underlaid text in the score is presented in two languages and contains the libretto text by Ferdinand Lemaire as well as the text of the Weimar premiere by Richard Pohl (1877), a performance that was initiated by Franz Liszt.

Orchestral scoring:

Mez-solo,3T-solo,Bar-solo,3B-solo / GemCh-SATB / 3(3. ou Pte fl).2.Cor angl.2.Clar.b.2.Cbn - 4.2.2 Cnt à pist.3.1.2 Oph.-Timb., Perc., 2 Hrp. - Cordes - Ballett

Detailed instrumentation:

Mezzo-soprano solo, Tenor solo (3), Baritone solo, Bass solo (3), Mixed choir (SATB), Ballet, Orchestra, Stae music