FULL SAMSON (Rameau) Aix-en-Provence 2024 Raphaël Pichon, Jarrett Ott, Jacquelyn Stucker, Lea Desandre, Nahuel di Pierro

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Samson  
• Composer: Rameau Jean-Philippe   
• Libretto: Voltaire    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: THÉÂTRE DE L'ARCHEVÊCHÉ, Aix-en-Provence, France, Aix-en-Provence Festival  
• Recorded: July 12, 2024
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Jarrett Ott, Jacquelyn Stucker, Lea Desandre, Nahuel di Pierro, Laurence Kilsby, Julie Roset, Antonin Rondepierre, Andréa Ferréol, Gabriel Coullaud-Rosseel, Pascal Lifschutz
• Conductor: Raphaël Pichon  
• Orchestra: Pygmalion  
• Chorus: Pygmalion  
• Choreographer: Sommer Ulrickson  
• Stage Director: Claus Guth   
• Stage Designer: Étienne Pluss  
• Costume Designer: Ursula Kudrna  
• Lighting Designer: Bertrand Couderc  

Information about the Recording

• Published by: ARTE  
• Date Published: 2024  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: yessubs, desubs, frsubs  
• Video Recording from: YouTube     FULL VIDEO
•  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

Samson is a lyrical tragedy in five acts and a Prologue, an opera inspired by the Bible, composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau from 1733 on a libretto by Voltaire , never performed, victim of the Censorship which banned its publication twice, in 1734 then in 1736 which led to the abandonment of the project and the disappearance of the score. Voltaire, at the origin of the work, had convinced Rameau to modernize French opera by reducing ballets and other distractions, to concentrate on the plot and the dramatic thread, by favoring arias, duets, ensembles and by limiting recitatives to the strict minimum. This Samson followed these recommendations but did not avoid the Censorship for “mixing the sacred and the profane” , a problem frequently encountered by stories based on the Bible. The Libretto was published by Voltaire.

Parts of the score were nevertheless reused in various later works such as Les Indes Galantes , l’acte des Incas (1735), Castor et Pollux (1737), Les Fêtes d’Hébé (1739), Zoroastre (1749).

The collaboration between Rameau and Voltaire resulted in 1745 in two works of very different inspiration: Le Temple de la Gloire and La Princesse de Navarre .

In 2024, on the occasion of its seventy-sixth edition, the Aix-en-Provence Festival is embarking on a reconstruction of Samson , a lost opera. The collaboration between conductor Raphaël Pichon and director Claus Guth aims, in representing this Samson , “not to reconstruct the letter but to recreate the spirit” .In an interview, Raphaël Pichon quotes Voltaire’s words to Rameau, revealing the depth of his political intentions : “I suggest that we make the revolution together, because opera has been lost today in the corridors of entertainment. It must allow us to read the world, to ask big questions.” For Raphaël Pichon, this is the essential reason for the Censorship that strikes the work, in particular “the last lines of Act III of the original libretto: People, rise up. People, wake up. People, break your chains. Fight for your freedom .

The premiere of this show, a reconstructed Samson, takes place on July 4, 2024 at the Théâtre de l’Archevêché in Aix-en-Provence . The musical design is provided by Raphaël Pichon, the concept and the scenario are written by Claus Guth with the collaboration of Eddy Garaudel under the supervision of the playwright Yvonne Gebauer.

Prologue
While Bacchus and Hercules celebrate Voluptuousness, Virtue arrives and speaks of Samson, a hero torn between his own power and that of Love.

Act 1
The people of Israel have gathered on the banks of the Adonis River to mourn their sad situation as captives while the high priest of the Idols abjures them to renounce their God and Samson calls his companions to revolt, himself overthrowing the pagan altars.

Act 2
At the Palace, a Philistine announces to the king that the revolt of the Israelites led by Samson threatens the royal residence towards which the crowd is heading. Samson claims to be sent by God and to prove it to the king, he makes fountains gush forth and provokes lightning. The Hebrews celebrate their victory while the king hesitates.

Act 3
The oracle consulted, announces to the king that only love can conquer Samson. Delilah is then charged with seducing him, wakes him up and charms him. But she in turn falls in love with Samson.

Act 4
The high priest asks Delilah to uncover the secret that makes Samson invincible. She seeks help from Cupid and asks Samson to marry her, a proposal that Samson accepts as the temple of Venus appears. Delilah manages to get Samson to reveal his secret and, as thunder roars, the Philistines seize Samson. Delilah, in despair, wants to join him in death.

Act 5
Samson is imprisoned when he learns of Delilah’s death. He claims to have revelations to make to the king who mocks him, brings out the Hebrews and shakes the temple by pushing aside the columns. The temple collapses.

Quoted from Wikipedia