[3/25/12]: Let's hear how Samson rallies his people (The opening scene of Saint-Saëns' "Samson et Dalila," part 2 -- continued)

As I've already indicated, EMI's 1962 Paris Samson et Dalila, with Jon Vickers and Rita Gorr in the title roles and Ernest Blanc an outstanding High Priest of Dagon, is a favorite recording of mine, and one of the easiest first-choice recommendations of any opera I know. We've already heard some of it, and today we're going to hear the opening scene broken down in accordance with the CD track divisions. A couple of them strike me as odd, and of course it wouldn't matter if you were listening to the CD, but in our format we're stuck with some arbitrary "break" points. For the sake of being able to focus even more fully than we have so far on the scene's component parts, I think we can make it work.

The presentation is a little backwards, in that for each "part" I've gone straight to the relevant music track, and only then presented any supplementary material, even though I would probably suggest listening to those supplementary tracks first. It just seemed easier to present the material in this form.

SAINT-SAÉNS: Samson et Dalila: Opening Scene

Part 1 (of 5): Orchestral introduction

Orchestra of the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 25-Oct. 10, 1962

At this point I don't think we need to say much more about this haunting orchestral attention-grabber!

Part 2 (of 5): Chorus of Hebrews,
"Dieu! Dieu d'Israël! Écoute la prière de tes enfants"

CHORUS OF HEBREWS [behind the curtain]: God!
God of Israel! Hear the prayer
of your children, imploring you on our knees;
take pity on your people and our misery!
Let our sorrow disarm your wrath!
HEBREW WOMEN [half of the sopranos and altos]:
One day you turned your face away from us,
and from that day your people were defeated!

Choeurs René Duclos, Orchestra of the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 25-Oct. 10, 1962

Again, I don't think we need to say much more. We didn't hear the beautiful little wail of the Hebrew women in our Part 1 (at 2:45 of this clip), but we added it last night, and I don't think we need to hear it separately.

Part 3 (of 5): Chorus of Hebrews,
"Quoi! Veux-tu donc qu'à jamais on efface"

The curtain rises.

A public square in the city of Gaza, in Palestine. At left, the portico of the temple of Dagon. At curtain rise, a crowd of Hebrews, men and women, has gathered on the square in an attitude of sorrow and prayer. SAMSON is among them. It is night.

CHORUS OF HEBREWS: What! Do you wish that forever
the peoples that have known you be erased?
But vainly do I implore you every day;
deaf to my voice, he doesn't answer!
And yet from evening till dawn
I implore here the help of his arm!
[Basses, then tenors, then altos, then sopranos]
We have seen our cities overturned,
and the Gentiles profaning your altar;
and under their yoke our dispersed tribes
have lost everything, even unto the name of Israel!
Are you then no longer that God of deliverance
who extracted our tribes from Egypt?
God!
Have you broken that holy alliance,
divine promises received by our forefathers?


Choeurs René Duclos, Orchestra of the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 25-Oct. 10, 1962

As I noted in last night's preview, it isn't necessarily easy to find the drama in the fugue that erupts when the Hebrews recall, "We have seen our cities overturned." This links up directly with the chorus's "God! Have you broken that alliance," which we heard last night flowing directly into Samson's explosive first utterance, "Arrêtez, ô mes frères."

Hebrews, "Nous avons vu nos cités renversées" . . .
"Dieu! As-tu rompé cette sainte alliance"

CHORUS OF HEBREWS: We have seen our cities overturned,
and the Gentiles profaning your altar;
and under their yoke our dispersed tribes
have lost everything, even unto the name of Israel!
Are you then no longer that God of deliverance
who extracted our tribes from Egypt?
God!
Have you broken that holy alliance,
divine promises received by our forefathers?

Vienna Festival Chorus, Sofia Chamber Chorus, Bregenz Festival Chorus, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Sylvain Cambreling, cond. Koch-Schwann, recorded live, July 21, 1988

Part 4 (of 5): Samson,
"Arrêtez, ô mes frères!"

SAMSON:
CHORUS OF HEBREWS: Alas! Alas! Vain words!
To march into combat
where then can we find arms?
How arm our arms?
We have only our tears!
SAMSON: Have you then forgotten him,
the one whose power
made itself your ally?
He who, filled with clemency,
has so often for you
made his oracles speak,
and relit your faith
in the fire of his miracles?
He who in the ocean
knew how to carve a passage
for our fathers fleeing a shameful slavery?
CHORUS OF HEBREWS: They no longer exist, those times
where the God of our fathers
protected his children,
heard their prayers!
SAMSON: Wretched ones, be quiet!
Doubt is blasphemy!


Jon Vickers (t), Samson; Choeurs René Duclos, Orchestra of the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 25-Oct. 10, 1962

What's so wonderful about this scene is the back-and-forth between Samson and his fellow Hebrews, the way he gradually rouses them from the torpor of their whining helplessness to, well, something very different. So I'd like to break this down a bit, for the most part overlapping a bit so we can better hear how each reply follows from what came before.

Let's start by picking up near the end of Samson's first peroration (at "Brothers; let us break our chains") and then hear the crowd's abject response.

Samson, "Frères! brisons nos chaînes" . . .
Hebrews, "Hélas! paroles vaines"

SAMSON: Brothers, let us break our chains,
and let us reraise the altar
of the one God of Israel.
CHORUS OF HEBREWS: Alas! Alas! Vain words!
To march into combat
where then can we find arms?
How arm our arms?
We have only our tears!

Carlo Cossutta (t), Samson; Vienna Festival Chorus, Sofia Chamber Chorus, Bregenz Festival Chorus, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Sylvain Cambreling, cond. Koch-Schwann, recorded live, July 21, 1988

Now, based on this response, Samson adjusts his mode of exhortation. We heard this last part of the scene, from Samson's "L'as-tu donc oublié," in the preview to Part 1, with five Samsons -- Georges Thill, Mario del Monaco, Plácido Domingo, Ramón Vinay, and Jon Vickers. We're going to hear Thill again here, plus the new Samson we've just heard, Carlo Cossutta, attached to the choral episodes in this recorded performance from the Austrian Bregenz Festival with a very good French conductor, Sylvain Cambreling.

Samson, "L'as-tu donc oublié"

SAMSON: Have you then forgotten him,
the one whose power
made itself your ally?
He who, filled with clemency,
has so often for you
made his oracles speak,
and relit your faith
in the fire of his miracles?
He who in the ocean
knew how to carve a passage
for our fathers fleeing a shameful slavery?

Georges Thill (t), Samson; orchestra, Eugène Bigot, cond. (?). EMI, recorded 1930

Nice try, Samson, but no sale. A frustrated Samson now goes into overdrive. (The continuation of this exhortation comes in Part 5.)

Hebrews, "Ils ne sont plus, ces temps" . . .
Samson, "Malheureux! taisez-vous! Le doute est un blasphème!"

CHORUS OF HEBREWS: They no longer exist, those times
where the God of our fathers
protected his children,
heard their prayers!
SAMSON: Wretched ones, be quiet!
Doubt is blasphemy!

Carlo Cossutta (t), Samson; Vienna Festival Chorus, Sofia Chamber Chorus, Bregenz Festival Chorus, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Sylvain Cambreling, cond. Koch-Schwann, recorded live, July 21, 1988

Part 5 (of 5): Samson,
"Implorons à genoux le Seigneur qui nous aime"

SAMSON: Let us implore on our knees
the Lord who loves us!
Let us put back in his hands
the care of our glory,
and then let us gird our loins,
certain of victory!
He is the God of combat!
He is the God of armies!
He will arm your arms
with invincible swords!
CHORUS OF HEBREWS: Ah! The breath of the Lord has passed into his soul!
Ah! Let us chase from our hearts
an unworthy terror!
And let us walk with him
for our deliverance!
Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!
Jehovah guides him
and gives us hope!


Jon Vickers (t), Samson; Choeurs René Duclos, Orchestra of the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 25-Oct. 10, 1962

And here's Georges Thill again.

Hebrews, ". . . entendait leurs prières" . . .
Samson, "Malheureux! taisez-vous! Le doute est un blasphème! Implorons à genoux"

CHORUS OF HEBREWS: . . . heard their prayers!
SAMSON: Wretched ones, be quiet!
Doubt is blasphemy!
Let us implore on our knees
the Lord who loves us!
Let us put back in his hands
the care of our glory,
and then let us gird our loins,
certain of victory!
He is the God of combat!
He is the God of armies!
He will arm your arms
with invincible swords!
CHORUS OF HEBREWS: Ah! The breath of the Lord has passed into his soul!

Georges Thill (t), Samson; orchestra, Eugène Bigot, cond. (?). EMI, recorded 1930

Ah, finally, I do believe we've got something!

Samson, "Il armera ton bras" . . .
Hebrews, "Ah, le souffle du Seigneur"

SAMSON: He will arm your arms
with invincible swords!
CHORUS OF HEBREWS: Ah! The breath of the Lord has passed into his soul!
Ah! Let us chase from our hearts
an unworthy terror!
And let us walk with him
for our deliverance!
Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!
Jehovah guides him
and gives us hope!

Carlo Cossutta (t), Samson; Vienna Festival Chorus, Sofia Chamber Chorus, Bregenz Festival Chorus, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Sylvain Cambreling, cond. Koch-Schwann, recorded live, July 21, 1988

NOW LET'S HEAR THE WHOLE OF OUR SCENE (SO FAR)

I think these two performances complement each other rather nicely. We've got a French performance with a pretty good French tenor in the 1946 EMI version, and then in the 1978 Eurodisc another case of German players and choristers having a perhaps stronger feeling for the music's gravity and depth. (The Eurodisc recording has a solid Dalila in Christa Ludwig, and a pretty good supporting cast, and it can be had for a song -- but without libretto.)


José Luccioni (t), Samson; Chorus and Orchestra of the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Louis Fourestier, cond. EMI, recorded September 1946

James King (t), Samson; Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra, Giuseppe Patanè, cond. Eurodisc/Sony-BMG, recorded 1973


COMING UP IN PART 3 OF OUR SAMSON SERIES

It should be clear from the end of our scene-so-far that something is about to happen. As a matter of fact, the Hebrews are about to be confronted by a most unpleasant personage, who may not, however, be prepared for the downtrodden people he's confronting.


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