MET OPERA: Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila

About this event

The Met: Live in HD is your chance to join thousands of others in theatres and cinemas around the world, to experience one of the world’s most famous opera companies livestream direct from New York. Here at Salt Spring, not only do you get to experience ArtSpring’s exceptional surround sound, but also our Quiche intermissions – which have helped make Saturday morning opera a Salt Spring institution. In addition to the opera itself, there are live interviews with the stars, and behind-the scenes live backstage footage. Sacred, scandalous, and irresistibly alluring, Saint-Saëns’s spectacular take on the biblical hero of legendary strength and the seductive Philistine whose beauty overpowers him returns in the Met’s larger-than-life production. Featuring a massive orchestra and chorus and some of opera’s most spellbinding tunes, this masterpiece of French grand opera is a feast for the eyes and ears. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts an electrifying cast led by the formidable star pairing of mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina and tenor Clay Hilley. The source of this popular opera is a single chapter in the biblical Book of Judges, and the brevity of the tale did nothing to prevent it from becoming one of the world’s great stories of love (or at least passion). Saint-Saëns’s opera, along with other artistic renderings across multiple genres, has had an important role in the popularization of this tale. Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) was a leading figure of the French musical world throu