The first month of spring brings exceptional surprises to the stage of the Bucharest National Opera between March 20-22 for opera lovers in the city. They will have the chance to admire a series of world-class soloists invited to perform in three consecutive opera productions.
On Thursday, March 20, the role of Musetta in La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini will be performed by Brazilian soprano Cláudia Azevedo. On Friday, March 21, French mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine will take on the lead female role of Dalila in Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saëns. On Saturday, March 22, Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov will be seen in the role of Calaf in Turandot by Giacomo Puccini.
Samson and Delilah – Friday, March 21, 6:30 PM
Camille Saint-Saëns’ opera Samson and Delilah had a spectacular journey from the very beginning. Premiered in Weimar, Germany, on December 2, 1877, it was initially rejected in Paris due to its biblical subject matter. Over time, however, Samson and Delilah became one of the most popular operas in the French repertoire, alongside Faust by Gounod and Carmen by Bizet.
The exotic and provocative Bacchanale from Act III remains the opera’s most famous excerpt and is frequently performed in instrumental concert arrangements. Nearly 150 years after its premiere, this opera continues to captivate audiences with its irresistible blend of religion and seduction, loyalty and betrayal, raw power and vulnerability, musical exuberance and biblical spirituality.
French Mezzo-Soprano Clémentine Margaine as Dalila
Recognized as one of the most distinguished mezzo-sopranos of her generation, Clémentine Margaine has been acclaimed internationally in recent seasons on some of the world’s most prestigious opera stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Colón, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro di San Carlo, Opera Australia, and the Canadian Opera Company.
In the 2023-2024 season, she stars in Il Trovatore at Teatro Regio di Parma, Aida at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, and Adriana Lecouvreur at Opéra de Lyon, Opéra National de Paris, and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. She also performs Carmen at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Her 2024-2025 season highlights include Il Trovatore in Vienna, Carmen at Bayerische Staatsoper, Werther in Liège, and Hamlet at Teatro Regio in Turin.
A graduate of the prestigious Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where she studied with Gerda Hartmann and Chantal Mathias, Margaine has won multiple awards, including Révélation classique Adami (2009), Révélation lyrique de l’année at the Victoires de la Musique (2011), and the Special Jury Prize at Marmande (2010).
She joined Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she first performed Carmen, a role that has become her signature, taking her to major stages in New York, Munich, Rome, Naples, Washington, Dallas, and Toronto. At Deutsche Oper Berlin, she also performed Marguerite in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust and Dalila in Samson and Delilah. In 2015, she debuted at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in her first performances as Charlotte in Werther.
Margaine is also a highly sought-after concert soloist, with notable performances in Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Berlin, Mozart’s Requiem in Lisbon, and Verdi’s Requiem.
Tickets available at tickets.operanb.ro and at the Bucharest National Opera Box Office.
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