We had our second chorus rehearsal tonight. We started out staging the "Hymne de joie," which is a liturgical chant done by all of the chorus baritones and the Old Hebrew, which is actually the name of his character. It's a beautiful, moving prayer that's broken up by the appearance of Dalila and a bevy of Philistine women who lure Samson away from his faith.
Musically, I like this opera more than I thought I would. The chorus sequences are truly gorgeous, especially the opening, which is 40 pages of harmonic desperation. When that first cry of "Dieu..." rises up above the orchestra, it makes me shiver. I am also quite enamored of the second act duet between Dalila and the High Priest where both of their true natures come out in full force.
This production is reminiscent of Cecil B. DeMille in all of his grandeur. The set is from SFO and is the biggest thing I've ever seen . . . only in photographs thus far. I won't get to tread the boards until next week. The costumes are lavish, the temple huge and jeweled, and the collapse at the end is truly fantastic. It will be quite an adventure to watch this massive thing go up (and an even bigger adventure to move it down to the Carnival Center and see it put together the way it was truly meant to be).
This is the biggest show I've ever done. "Pearl Fishers" had a bigger chorus in New York, but the set was all drops flown in and out so it didn't have the massive set-piece factor that we're struggling with in Ft. Lauderdale. I didn't know how I'd feel about grand opera. In general I seem to be partial to the small, psychological operas, mostly because I feel like so many grand operas are stuck in "park-and-bark" land, the chorus always seems to be standing in a chorale arc, and the dance doesn't seem to do anything to move the story forward. I don't think it has to be that way though. Diving into this opera has given me some insight and also allowed me to really see dancers and chorus become storytellers in their own right.
I'll always be in love with the smaller more obscure pieces, but it's nice to find the magic inside these larger operas as well. The challenge for a director, I think, is to not feel like a cattle herder with a massive chorus, and how to keep the sections of heavy, difficult singing from becoming too static or concert-esque without overtaxing the singers.
Tomorrow is our first principal run. It's great to start feeling the continuity.
