Editing Samson and Delilah (opera) (section)

===20th and 21st century performance history===
[[File:Walter Hyde Samson and Delilah 1918.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Walter Hyde]] and Edna Thornton in the 1919 London production of ''Samson and Delilah'' conducted by [[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]]]]
By 1906, ''Samson et Dalila'' had received more than 200 performances internationally. The opera has continued to remain moderately popular since and, while not being among the most frequently performed operas, the work has become a part of the standard opera performance repertory at most major opera houses. The opera has been revived numerous times not only in Europe and North America, but also in South America, Australia, and Asia.<ref name=Boston/> While none of Saint-Saëns's later operas suffered the tribulations endured by ''Samson et Dalila'' during its early years, none of his other works have achieved the same enduring success either.

In North America, French contralto [[Jeanne Gerville-Réache]] is largely credited for popularizing the work in the United States and Canada during the early twentieth century. Réache first performed the role of Delilah with the [[Manhattan Opera Company]] in New York City in 1908 and went on to sing the role several more times over the next seven years, including performances in [[Philadelphia]], Boston, [[Chicago]], and [[Montreal]] (for the Canadian premiere in 1915).<ref>Kutsch and Riemens, p. 487</ref>

The [[Metropolitan Opera]] revived the opera in its 1915/1916 season with [[Margaret Matzenauer]] as Delilah, [[Enrico Caruso]] as Samson, and [[Pasquale Amato]] as the High Priest. Since then the company has staged productions of the opera at least once every decade giving more than 200 performances of the work. [[Plácido Domingo]] performed as Samson in the 1981 [[San Francisco Opera]] production co-starring [[Shirley Verrett]], under [[Julius Rudel]]<ref>{{IMDb title|tt0204610|Samson et Dalila|(1981)}}</ref> and at the Metropolitan Opera's 1998 production with [[Olga Borodina]].<ref>[http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=331000 ''Samson et Dalila'' 28 September 1998], performance details, Met archives</ref> More recent productions of the opera by the Metropolitan have been in 2006, with [[Marina Domashenko]] and [[Olga Borodina]] alternating as Delilah,<ref>[http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351427 ''Samson et Dalila'', 10 February 2006]; [http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351442 ''Samson et Dalila'', 25 February 2006], performance details, Met archives</ref> and in 2018 with [[Elīna Garanča]] and [[Roberto Alagna]].<ref>[http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356997 ''Samson et Dalila'', 25 February 2006], performance details, Met archives</ref> The [[Lyric Opera of Chicago]] gave their first performance of the opera in November 1962 with [[Rita Gorr]] as Delilah and {{ill|Hans Kaart|nl}} as Samson. The company has revived the work numerous times since then, most recently in their 2003/2004 season with Olga Borodina as Dalila and [[José Cura]] as Samson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lyricopera.org/about/performance-and-cast-archive.aspx|title=Performance & Cast Archive|website=www.lyricopera.org}}</ref> Likewise, the San Francisco Opera has staged the opera 10 times during its history giving its first performance in 1925, with [[Marguerite d'Alvarez]] and [[Fernand Ansseau]] in the principal roles, and its most recent performance in 2008, with Borodina and Clifton Forbis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.sfopera.com/qry1operalist.asp?x_PlainOpera=Samson+et+Dalila&z_PlainOpera=LIKE,'%25,%25'|title=San Francisco Opera Performance Archive|website=archive.sfopera.com}}</ref>

''Samson et Dalila'' became a consistent presence in the opera houses of Europe. By 1920, the Paris Opéra alone had given more than five hundred performances of the opera. In the decades after World War II, it was less often heard by European audiences; but since the 1980s it has regained much of its former Continental popularity. Recent European productions include performances at [[La Scala]], Milan, in 2002 (Domingo and Borodina); the [[Royal Opera House]], Covent Garden, in 2004 ([[Denyce Graves]] and [[José Cura]]) and again in 2022; the [[Royal Swedish Opera]] in 2008 ([[Anna Larsson (contralto)|Anna Larsson]] and [[Lars Cleveman]]).{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}<!-- <ref>{{cite web|url=http://operabase.com/oplist.cgi?id=none&lang=en&is=Samson+et+Dalila&by=&loc=&stype=abs&sd=2&sm=1&sy=2007&etype=abs&ed=&em=&ey=|title=Performances|website=[[Operabase]]}}{{dead link|date=May 2019}}</ref> -->

{{Listen|type=music
|title="Vois ma misère, hélas!" ("Behold my misery, alas!", act 3, scene 1)
|filename=Enrico Caruso, Camille Saint-Saëns, Vois ma misère, hélas (Samson et Dalila).ogg
|description=[[Enrico Caruso]] premiered the role of Samson at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York City during its 1915/1916 season and recorded "{{Lang|fr|Vois ma misère, hélas!|italic=no}}" in 1916.
}}

Throughout its history, ''Samson et Dalila'' has served as a star vehicle for many singers. The role of Delilah is considered to be one of the great opera roles for the [[mezzo-soprano]].