Not seen at Seattle Opera for nearly 60 years, ‘Samson and Delilah’ excites

Opera review

When Seattle Opera announced that its “Samson and Delilah” would be performed in concert instead of conventional staging, some opera fans were perplexed. Would it still be opera?

The answer is a definite “yes,” as audiences for Friday evening’s opening show promptly discovered.

It was a novel experience to see the orchestra on the stage, located back far enough from the proscenium opening to leave room for the principal singers across the stage front. Behind the orchestra, at the very back of the stage and elevated by risers, was the chorus. It looked a little cramped, and the stage was certainly full, but the concept worked well nonetheless.

Placing the orchestra on the stage might seem acoustically chancy: wouldn’t the sound overwhelm the singers? But surprisingly, the onstage orchestra did not appear any louder than the normal volume levels from the orchestra pit.

Concert or no concert, this production offered first-rate singing and acting, imaginative lighting (cheers to Connie Yun, lighting designer) and a streamlined take on a classic. Saint-Saens’ “Samson and Delilah” hasn’t been produced here since 1965, partly because it is difficult and expensive to present. Even for die-hard opera purists, this current production is a happy return for an opera of so much musical beauty.

This was not only “still opera”; it was exciting opera, particularly whenever J’Nai Bridges (Delilah) was on the stage. The company debut of this Tacoma-area mezzo-soprano has been eagerly awaited, particularly since the recent news of her second Grammy nomination, and she exceeded all expectations. Bridges’ rich, opulent voice illuminated every line of her role, soaring to the high B-flat of the opera’s most famous aria, “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix.” Beautiful and regal, she proved an assured actor, convincing both as cynical plotter and as commanding temptress. Bridges was gorgeously attired in spectacular dresses and jewelry (those earrings!) that brought out the opera glasses all over McCaw Hall at a whiplash-inducing speed. What a star!

Her Samson, Yonghoon Lee, proved an ardent tenor and an impassioned actor with a powerful voice. His performance would have been more convincing if he had not required the frequent assistance of a score (placed on a music stand, and occasionally moved around as the staging required) in the second half of the production.

Greer Grimsley, as the High Priest, gave an assured and authoritative performance. Grimsley has been singing at Seattle Opera since 1994, and he retains his well-known power and resonance.

The Seattle Opera Chorus sounded polished, generating plenty of solid and well-tuned choral sound. Kudos to chorus master Michaella Calzaretta.

The indispensable center of the production was Ludovic Morlot, the former Seattle Symphony music director and now conductor emeritus. He not only conducted the orchestra upstage, but regularly pivoted to turn downstage, cuing the principal singers when they needed it. Morlot also had to balance the orchestral sound levels — substantial, but not overwhelming — with what he was hearing from the principals. It was a heroic job: well done.

This story has been updated with the correct year that Greer Grimsley first sang at Seattle Opera.