Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Samson et Dalila

With Aigul Akhmetshina and Seokjong Baek in the title roles, there are reasons to be optimistic, but The Royal Opera’s revival of Richard Jones’ production is a mixed bag.

Argentinian film director Damián Szifron's production is lauded in Naples, as are star soloists Anita Rachvelishvili and Brian Jagde.

Inspiration eludes the director as a new staging of Saint-Säens’ biblical epic falls flat but for some excellent musical performances led by outstanding mezzo Elīna Garanča. 

Strong singing but a stellar orchestra and staging make for a riveting production at the Kennedy Center. 

Daniel Barenboim conducts an underwhelming cast in the Staatsoper's new Samson et Dalila, and Argentinian director Damián Szifron's operatic debut is stale and cliché-ridden. 

The young singers spin any raw material into opera gold, sending the audience home as uplifted as if they’d just glugged a bellyful of Pimm’s.

The Met's new season opens with a new Samson et Dalila only marginally more trashy than Saint-Saëns’ peculiar brand of kitschy orientalism.

Saint-Saëns' exotic dip into the Bible is given a cool update in Alexandra Liedtke's new production at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Kitsch and grand-opera in Hugo de Ana's production of Samson et Dalila in Turin.

Grange Park’s Samson et Dalila doesn’t hit the bull’s eye, but it’s well worth the visit for a decent all-round staging of an unfamiliar work, an excellent rendering of its sumptuous score and for a thrilling piece of singing by Carl Tanner.

Romance and Treachery in a Grand Season Finale for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Marie-Nicole Lemieux tackles Saint-Saëns' Dalila for the first time and exceeds all expectations. 

The tradition of Grand Opera is well and alive. The genius of Saint-Saëns shone marvellously through this brilliant interpretation, which essentially did justice to the heart of Opera, a dash of madness mixed with high theatricality.

To Camille Saint-Saëns, the operatic appeal of the biblical subject of Samson is perfectly understandable. Theoretically, the story contains the dramatic trappings of exciting grand opera: a romance, tragedy, larger-than-life setting, a ballet. But for current operatic audiences, it is easy for the subject to appear stale. With a lack of dramatic dynamism, staging this piece can be a challenge.

Plus donné au Théâtre Antique d'Orange depuis 1978, l'opéra de Saint-Saëns fait son retour avec un duo de rêve en Roberto Alagna et Marie-Nicole Lemieux.

Jacques Mercier quitte la scène lyrique messine avec un ultime hommage à l’opéra français.

En faisant le choix d’une modernité parfois triviale et brutale, cette nouvelle production déçoit quelque peu malgré la grande qualité du plateau vocal et musical.

Una versión atrevida de Carlus Padrissa que interpreta la obra de Saint-Saëns en clave de conflicto religioso.