Samson and Delilah Marked 400th Anniversary of Opera
The Ljubljana Opera and Ballet House marked the 400th anniversary of opera as a genre in Ljubljana on Saturday. The event was marked by a concert performance of the opera "Samson and Delilah" by French composer Camille Saint-Saens.
The main features of the opera are excellent arias, duets, choruses and a colourful orchestration, which makes the opera suitable for a concert performance, the house said in a press release.
"Samson and Delilah" is one of the most important French operas of the 19th century. It is based on an episode from the Old Testament in which a pagan girl Delilah deceives an Israeli hero Samson into telling her the secret of his great strength.
The opera will feature tenor Badri Maisuradze of the Russian Bolshoi Theatre and the famous Slovenian alto Mirjam Kalin.
The Georiga-born Maisuradze has performed in the German National Opera in Berlin, Royal Theatre in Madrid, La Scala in Milan, and the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
Kalin has been a permanent member of the soloists ensemble of the Ljubljana Opera and Ballet House since 1996. Her most recent performance was Dulcinea in Jules Massenet's "Don Quixote" staged in Ljubljana in January.
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the staging of the first opera, "L'Orfeo", by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi. "L'Orfeo" is the earliest opera which is still regularly staged.
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