Mario Del Monaco was just under 50 when this one-off in Philadelphia was given in 1964. He may have been just past his vocal prime, but just. Though the recording (recorded by a chatty person who thinks nothing of talking while the chorus sings the opening at the beginning) makes the voices sound slightly recessed, Del Monaco's power and charisma still make it over the footlights. He grandstands on those top notes, holding the top B-flat at "Leve toi!" long after the chorus has cut off and stubbornly insists on the holding the final "Trahison!" at the end of Act Two almost until the end of the orchestral music. The audience goes nuts on cue and a good time is had by all.Nell Rankin, a woefully underrated mezzo, is a wonderful Dalila who is no slouch when it come to high notes either. Her two octave cadenza in "Amour! viens aider ma faiblesse" establishes her immense authority. The big aria that follows is as smooth as silk. Frank Valentino's voice had seen fresher days by this point, yet he brings the High Priest to life. Carlo Moresco leads a good, if not spectacular performance. The temple collapse at the end is very convincing given all the shrieks from the chorus.As I said earlier this is from an in-house tape and it adequately conveys the strengths of the performance.

The recording suffers from distant miking from the audience but benefis from the thrilling natural singing voice of Mario Del Monaco still in possession of its' enormous power, emotional intensity, and its' ability to move an audience. A. Moscato

For those who may be interested, this performance of Samson et Dalila was given on November 27, 1964 by the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company and performed at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.