Sessions

Monday 17 March • 20h00

Book

Wednesday 19 March • 20h00

Book

Friday 21 March • 20h00

Book

Sunday 23 March • 15h00

Relax sessions

Book

With a single strong plot and striking music, this total show presents today’s audiences with the edifying tragedy dreamt by Voltaire.

Samson is known for his godlike strength and his passion for Dalila. But his divine birth, announced by an angel, also made him a saviour and a judge while his hopeless self-control, literal and figurative blindness and failures in love made him a hero marked by fate.

Voltaire’s ambition was to offer Rameau a philosophical, rather than academic, opera libretto based on this character from the Book of Judges. But royal censors refused to see the Sacred History dragged onto secular stages. Rameau thus abandoned the project and recycled his score in his later works.

The 1734 project, which cannot be strictly restored, inspired Claus Guth and Raphaël Pichon to adopt a more extended and collective frame of reference. The scenario of Samson’s life is cleverly accompanied by a perfect music montage intended to be as true as possible to the original. With a single strong plot and striking music, this total show presents today’s audiences with the edifying tragedy dreamt by Voltaire.

Creation by Claus Guth and Raphaël Pichon based on Samson. An opera creation project by Jean- Philippe Rameau, on a censored Voltaire libretto, created on 4th July 2024 at the Festival d’Aix-En-Provence

Musical direction, Raphaël Pichon • Stage direction, Claus Guth • With Jarrett Ott, Ana Maria Labin, Julie Roset, Laurence Kilsby, Camille Chopin, a child from la Maîtrise Populaire of the Opéra-Comique • Choir and Orchestra, Pygmalion

See all the cast

Estimated duration : 2h25, including intermission - Salle Favart
175, 145, 115, 80, 50, 35, 15, 6 €

Show performed in French with French and English surtitles

The doors of the opera-house open 45 minutes before the performance.

Audio description (EN)

Some operas are available in audio description. "Image whisperers” are also available on demand.
More info on this page

People with reduced mobility

16 seats are dedicated to people with reduced mobility, on reservation at the box office or by phone. Access to the lift is located 5 rue Favart
+33 1 70 23 01 44 | accessibilite@opera-comique.com

Visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing

Headsets and magnetic loops are available at the ticket inspection desk, on deposit of your ID. Material in Braille and large prints is available free of charge, on site.

Relax sessions

Relax sessions offer a inclusive caring environment for people whose disability (autism, multiple disabilities, mental or psychic disability, Alzheimer…) may give rise to atypical and unpredictable behaviour during the show.

Aged 10 and older

Les Pléiades

Around the show
Each lyrical production will be supported by “Pléiades” extending and enriching its content in accessible, offbeat, prospective or intimate formats.

Event

After-Show | Samson

March 19, 2025

Concerts and recitals

Masterclasses at the Académie

March 20, 2025

Event

Evening | Samson

March 21, 2025

Family event

Young audiences programme

Sharing Songs

October 04, 2024 to June 14, 2025

Before the show

To discover

45 minutes before the performance : The keys to the show with the dramaturge of the Opéra Comique (in French).
Salle Bizet | Free

To relax

The intermission bar offers drinks and light refreshments as soon as the theatre doors open.

Accessibility

Audiodescription (In French) | Friday 21 March at 8 pm and Sunday 23 March at 3 pm
This opera is available in audio description. "Image whisperers” are also available on demand.

Relax session | Sunday 23 March at 3 pm
Relax sessions offer a inclusive caring environment for people whose disability may give rise to atypical and unpredictable behaviour during the show.