ASO ends season on high note with smashing ‘Samson et Dalila’

Atlanta is a city with a major league orchestra (the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) and a relatively minor league opera scene. Recognizing this, ASO Music Director Robert Spano has included concert performances of opera as part of each season for many years.

Spano has never held an opera posting and lacks the extensive pit experience usually required to become a great opera conductor. He makes up for this with his palpable passion for vocal music and his knack for working with singers and the chorus. These performances are Atlanta’s chance to hear major voices, usually in interesting repertoire.

There is no better example of this than Thursday's smashing ASO season finale: Camille Saint-Säens' "Samson et Dalila." When staged, the opera is French Grand Opera at its grandest … longish, and tricked out with the de rigueur ballet scenes. But it works almost as well as an oratorio, which in fact was the composer's original idea. The challenge is that it calls for three major Wagnerian voices in the major roles, and the good ones of these are the rarest of all voice types.

This was luxury casting. Our Delilah was Stephanie Blythe, a renowned mezzo-soprano whose voice continues to be fresh and unforced, with the kind of power that echoes thrillingly in the hall. Her big aria, “Mon couer s’ouvre à ta voix,” was the highlight of the evening.

Stuart Skelton, who sang Samson, is among the world’s leading heldentenors. His voice, like Blythe’s, is simply huge, and in the middle and upper registers, it has a wonderful trumpetlike quality. Every note is in place and the sound is refined, without the harsh edge that usually comes with this kind of singing.

As High Priest, we got the elegant bass-baritone Greer Grimsley. If his voice is now more tremulous than I recall, it is also more burnished. But, like the others, his has extraordinary resonating power. And even in a concert, he possesses riveting stage presence and poise. Yes, even when his music stand came apart in his hands.

Interestingly, all three principals sang major roles in the Seattle Opera’s 2009 production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle, conducted by Spano in his most important foray into opera.

Sometimes it’s too easy to take the ASO Chorus for granted. They are Atlanta’s single greatest musical asset, and in this choral showpiece, they really were in top form.

It’s been a rocky season for the orchestra, which struggled with intonation and other problems in the aftermath of the lock-out. None of that was apparent this time around. The sound was that of a truly world-class orchestra. String tone, especially, seemed almost flawless. Spano’s reading reveled in the glorious variety of this score. What a wonderful way to end the season.

This will likely be my last review for the paper. Since 2007, Atlanta’s musicians have provided the soundtrack of my life, and it’s been an amazing adventure writing about it all. My time is up, and I must move back to New York. You will always be in my ear. I wish you great music.