Samson - Aix-en-Provence Festival (2024) - Samson - Festival d'Aix-en-Provence (2024)

Description

World Premiere.

"When, in 1733, the most brilliant mind of his time, Voltaire, joined forces with the greatest composer, Rameau, to carry out an ambitious reform of lyrical art, the result was the biblical opera Samson. But considered sulfurous , the libretto was censored and the score was lost – reproduced in uncertain fragments in later works. Haunted by this singular project which had become one of the most beautiful chimeras in the history of opera, Claus Guth and Raphaël Pichon wanted not to reconstruct the letter but to recreate its spirit: to associate a story of unprecedented strength and nobility with the most eloquent of music. Samson is God's chosen one but his extraordinary power isolates him as much as he distinguishes him: a series of deceptive loves will turn him into a destructive impulse, making the biblical Hercules the first suicide mass murderer. Surrounding Jarrett Ott, Jacquelyn Stucker and Lea Desandre in the lead roles, the choir and the Pygmalion orchestra become full actors in a sublime, extraordinarily current fresco."

More information is available on the official website of the festival.