Camille Saint-Saëns, composer, pianist, organist, inspired teacher, and promoter of the music of his contemporaries, was also a seasoned traveler and talented writer. To all this, he also added a zealous dedication to various disciplines such as astronomy, archeology, philosophy, and even the occult sciences. However, when in 1867, in his thirties, he presented to a small group of listeners the project for his second opera (the first, then still unperformed), the small audience refused to believe that the maestro could successfully bring to the stage a subject of an openly biblical nature.
The work of dissent, Samson and Delilah, an opera in three acts, is indeed based on an episode from the Old Testament, specifically chapters 13 to 16 of the Book of Judges, which tells the story of a conflict between the Hebrews and the Philistines, taking place in Gaza, no less.
Saint-Saëns' original idea was to create an oratorio. It was his librettist, very occasional by the way (the young husband of "a relative of mine" who wrote verse) who convinced him of its theatrical potential.
But the idea had to wait, until 1875, when the maestro presented the First Act in a concert that excited no one. Franz Liszt, a fervent admirer of the project, declared his public support, and Saint-Saëns finally managed to finish it in 1876. Thanks to the good offices of the Hungarian master, the complete work could be premiered in Weimar the following year. But until then, the Parisians remained cold and distant. It was not until 1892 that the Paris Opera staged the complete show, which gradually won its audience until it became the longest-lived of the thirteen operas composed by the master.
The Bacchanal
The bawdy celebration with origin in the festivities in honor of the god Bacchus (or Dionysus) is located at the beginning of Act Three. In the temple, the Philistines prepare a celebration in gratitude for the capture of the Hebrew leader, who is none other than Samson, whose hair, the source of his power, has been cut off by the sensual Delilah. The Philistines indulge in a frenzied dance, unaware that Samson's hair is growing back, so he will soon regain his power and finally destroy the temple with his arms. But in the meantime, the Philistines celebrate, and dance.
Sinuous melodic lines of an "oriental", or "exotic" character, accompanied by lush percussion, drive the dance, which lasts just under seven minutes.
The performance is by the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas, under the baton of Venezuelan conductor Dietrich Paredes.
