Ópera de Puerto Rico will present a semi-staged production of Camille Saint-Saëns’s opera “Samson et Dalila” on Saturday, October 24, in the Sinfónica Hall of the Centro de Bellas Artes in Santurce, bringing together international and Puerto Rican singers. The biblical tale centers on Samson, whose strength has given the subjugated Hebrew people hope, and Dalila, whose beauty the Philistine tyrants trust to destroy him.
Samson will be sung by Puerto Rican tenor Rafael Dávila, currently in New York as part of the cast of “Macbeth” and previously acclaimed locally in “La traviata,” “Lucia di Lammermoor,” “Turandot,” “Madama Butterfly,” “Tosca” and “Carmen”; the role has earned him excellent reviews in the United States. Spanish mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera makes her island debut in the full role of Dalila, having previously performed in Puerto Rico in concerts and galas with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and CulturArte alongside figures like Plácido Domingo and Antonio Barasorda.
The principal cast also includes Puerto Rican baritone César Méndez, now based in Vladivostok, Russia, as the High Priest of Dagon, and bass Ricardo Lugo, who has sung from the Metropolitan Opera House to the Opera of Hong Kong, playing Abimelech and the Old Hebrew. Young talents Christina García, Carlos Ortiz and Brayan Molina fill secondary roles, with Jo-Anne Herrero leading a 32-voice chorus.
Gilberto Valenzuela directs the staging with biblical-style costumes designed by Gloria Sáez, and Máximiano Valdés conducts the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. Tickets are on sale at the Centro de Bellas Artes and TicketCenter.