Abstract
The article examines the stage history of Camille Saint-Saëns’s opera “Samson et Dalila” (1877) in the context of its international performance tradition. The study is based on archival documents from the Metropolitan Opera (New York), data from Operabase and the Opéra de Paris, as well as domestic and foreign musicological sources. The research problem lies in the absence of a systematic analysis of the evolution of stage interpretations and performance traditions of this opera from an interdisciplinary perspective that integrates musicology, theatre studies, and cultural analysis. The methodology relies on historical-cultural, archival, and comparative approaches, as well as iconographic and gender analysis. The material includes archival programs, posters, critical reviews, musical editions, and visual documents reflecting the development of performance traditions. The use of digital platforms such as the Metropolitan Opera Archives and Operabase made it possible to refine the geography of productions and trace the evolution of Dalila’s image over more than a century. The study reveals key milestones in the opera’s stage history-from early French performances in the late nineteenth century to contemporary interpretations in the United States and Europe. It demonstrates that the enduring presence of Samson et Dalila in the global repertoire is explained not only by its musical and dramatic value but also by its alignment with the paradigm of musical orientalism and the archetype of the femme fatale. Special attention is paid to the transformation of visual symbolism and performance practices in Metropolitan Opera productions of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The scientific novelty lies in the introduction of previously unused archival materials from the Metropolitan Opera and in clarifying the repertoire chronology. The practical significance of the results lies in their potential use in musical history studies, opera pedagogy, and cultural analysis. Prospects for further research involve comparative examination of archival data from leading world theatres to provide a comprehensive view of the international dissemination of French opera of the late nineteenth century.