Doug Fisher thus:

>I am looking to acquire a recording of Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saens,
>and would be interested in any recommendations.  I am trying to decide
>between the Cura/Davis recording and the Domingo/Chung recorinding.

Well, here's a thought.  I am a great advocate of 'bargain' recordings of
music I don't know, since if I like the music I reckon I can always find a
better recording if the one I have lacks something on the one hand, but I
haven't spent a fortunme to obtain music I'm not going to listen to often
if I don't like it on the other hand.  That was the case with Samson and
Dalila, so I bought the Oper d'Oro cheap twofer ($9.99, I believe).  It is
live recording from Milan in 1970 with the Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala
conducted by Georges Pretre.  Shirley Verrett sings Dalila, Richard Cassily
is Samson and the High Priest is sung by Robert Massard.  Not a bad
performance, and the Bacchanale is suitably wild.

May be a good starting point for you and meanwhile I will look out for
other resopnses to see what recommendations are made between the two
recordings you mention.

Tim Mahon
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