Samson et Dalila

Opera by CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS, 1877, first performed in Weimar to a German LIBRETTO.

It tells the biblical story of Delilah, the priestess of the Philistine temple. She entices the Hebrew warrior Samson and during his sleep cuts his hair, the source of his physical power. He is then blinded, chained, and taken to the Philistine temple in Gaza. There, summoning his strength which has returned, he breaks the pillars supporting the roof, bringing the temple down on himself and the worshippers.

On account of the restrictions regarding theatrical representation of biblical characters, the opera was not performed on the stage in France until 1892, and not in England until 1909.