Blanche Thebom was an American operatic mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, and opera director. She was part of the first wave of American opera singers that had highly successful international careers. In her own country she had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City which lasted 22 years. Opera News stated, "An ambitious beauty with a velvety, even-grained dramatic mezzo, Thebom was a natural for opera: she commanded the stage with the elegantly disciplined hauteur of an old-school diva, relishing the opportunity to play femmes du monde such as Marina in Boris Godunov, Herodias and Dalila."
Thebom in 1954.
Samson and Delilah (opera)
Samson and Delilah, Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the Grossherzogliches Theater on 2 December 1877 in a German translation.
Samson and Delilah, by Gustave Doré, c. 1860
The role of Dalila was written for Pauline Viardot (1821–1910) (pictured) but the singer was too old to assay the role for the 2 December 1877 Weimar premiere and the role was entrusted to Auguste von Müller.
Franz Liszt (1811–1886) was an enthusiastic supporter of Samson et Dalila and was instrumental in arranging the first production in Weimar. (Photograph, 1870)
The Grand Ducal Theater in Weimar (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) was the site of the premiere of the complete Samson et Dalila on 2 December 1877.
