"Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix", known in English as "Softly awakes my heart", or more literally "My heart opens itself to your voice", is a popular mezzo-soprano aria from Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Samson et Dalila, It is sung by Dalila in act 2 as she attempts to seduce Samson into revealing the secret of his strength.
Samson et Dalila, known in English as Samson and Delilah, 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 (Grand Ducal) Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) on 2 December 1877 in a German translation.
Although the orchestration was not yet complete, act 2 was presented in a private performance in 1870 just prior to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War with Saint-Saëns playing the orchestral parts, which were largely improvised, on the piano.
Composer Augusta Holmès (Dalila), painter Henri Regnault (Samson), and Romain Bussine (High Priest) rendered their roles from part books.
The French public reacted negatively to Saint-Saëns's intention of putting a Biblical subject on the stage, causing him to abandon working further on the opera for the next two years.
In 1872, when visiting Weimar in Germany, Franz Liszt persuaded Saint-Saëns to finish Samson and Delilah, even offering to produce the completed work at the grand-ducal opera house in Weimar.
So for the next 3 years Saint-Saëns was working completing the opera.
In 1875 acclaimed mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, for whom Saint-Saëns wrote the role of Dalila, organized and performed in a private performance of act 2 at a friend's home in Croissy, with the composer at the piano. Viardot was a great admirer of the work and she hoped that this private performance would encourage Halanzier, the director of the Paris Opéra who was in attendance, to mount a full production. Although Saint-Saëns completed the score in 1876, no opera houses in France displayed any desire to stage Samson et Dalila. Liszt's sustained support however led to the work being mounted in Weimar in 1877.
The opera was performed for the first time in France at the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen on March 3, 1890 with Carlotta Bossi as Dalila and Jean-Alexandre Talazac as Samson, this time with a much warmer reception by the audiences.
The first recording of the aria from Act II "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix", I could find is from 1899-1900, released on a cylinder of the French branch of the Bettini-label.
The Bettini-label was founded by Gianni Bettini, who started his operations in New York and around 1898 went to Paris to establish the French Société des Micro-Phonographes Bettini.
The performers on this recording are simply described as Duo Mezzo-Soprano & Tenor.
(o) Duo Mezzo-Soprano & Tenor (1899) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded in Paris, France
Released on Micro-Phonographe Bettini
Listen here: www.phonobase.org/audio/AD-2021/20210322112113.mp3
But "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix" was probably recorded the year before, when Gianni Bettini still was in New York and recorded a version by the soprano Rosalia Chalia.
(o) Mme. (Rosalia) Chalia (1898) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded in New York
Released on Bettini #19
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See page 26 on the next link: A true mirror of sound : Bettini
See also page 154 on the next link: Encyclopedia-of-Recorded-Sound-in-the United-States-Marco-19.pdf
(c) Charlotte Marie Agussol (1901) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded 1901 in Paris
Matrix 693G
Released on Berliner / G&T 33143
(c) Mme. Guillon-Brasseur (1901) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded 1901 in Paris
Matrix 3737G / 3738G
Released on Berliner 33231 and Berliner 33240
(c) Mary Boyer (1902) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded 1902 in Paris
Released on Pathe Cylinder # 234
Listen here: www.phonobase.org/audio/AD-2015/2015_0176.mp3
(c) Rosa Olitzka (1902) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded 1902 in Paris ?
Matrix 1315F
Released on Berliner / G&T 33170
Listen here:
(c) Felia Litvinne (1902) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded December 29, 1902 in Paris
Matrix 1360F / 2254F
Released on Gramophone 33160
Also released on Victor 5112
Listen here: at 6 minutes and 50 seconds in the YT below
(c) Ernestine Schumann-Heink (1903) (as "Mein Herz" ("Dalilah's Grand Aria")
Released on Columbia 1380
Listen here: cusb_col_1380_01_1380_01d.mp3
(c) Louise Homer (1903) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded November 2, 1903 in New York
Released on Victor 85014 (US) and Victor 74020 Canada)
Listen here: cusb_victor_74020_01_c621_01d.mp3
(c) Emil Keneke (1906) (as "My Heart At Thy Sweet Voice")
with Arthur Pryor's Band
Recorded March 30, 1906 in Philadelphia
Released on Victor 31564
Listen here: cusb_victor_31564_01_c3230_01d.mp3
(c) Mme. (Marie) Delna (1907) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Released on Pathe 4876
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Listen here: www.phonobase.org/audio/AC-2010/2012_6353.mp3
(c) Mr. (Jean) Bedetti (1908) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Released on Pathe 8532
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Listen here: www.phonobase.org/audio/AC-2010/2012_6138.mp3
(c) Jeanne Gerville-Réache (1909) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded April 29, 1909 in Camden, New Jersey
Released on Victrola 88184
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Listen here:
On April 24, 1909 Saint-Saëns' Samson Et Dalila got the first UK stage premiere at Covent Garden in London, with Louise Kirkby Lunn playing the role of Dalila, earning the praise of the composer Saint-Saëns, who attended the British premiere of the opera at Covent Garden, declaring Lunn to be his ideal interpreter.
2 months later Louise Kirkby Lunn also made a recording of "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix".
(c) Madame (Louise) Kirkby Lunn (1909) (as "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix")
Recorded June 29, 1909 in London
Released in 1909 on Gramophone Monarch Record 2-033002
Listen here:
Probably the first version with English lyrics was recorded in 1908.
(c) Corinne Morgan (1908) (as "My Heart At Thy Sweet Voice")
Recorded February 27, 1908 in Camden, New Jersey
Released on Victor 5414 and Victor 16192
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Listen here: cusb_victor_16192_01_b6000_02d.mp3
In 1922 Paul Whiteman recorded a medley, which consisted of Cesar Cui's "Orientale" and Saint-Saëns' "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix"
(c) Paul Whiteman (1922) (in medley "Oriental Fox Trot")
Recorded June 16, 1922 in Camden, New Jersey
Released on Victor 18940
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Or here (concerning part starts at 1 min and 40 sec in the YT below)
(c) Marian Anderson (as "Softly Awakes My Heart")
Recorded September 4, 1930 in London
Released on His Master's Voice C-2047
Listen here:
(c) Larry Clinton (1938) (as "My Heart At Thy Sweet Voice")
with Bea Wain (vocals)
Recorded August 15, 1938 in New York
Released on Victor 26024
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In 1947 Saint-Saëns' "Mon Cœur S'ouvre a Ta Voix" was adapted by Bill Anson and Ted Mossman and introduced as "When I Write My Song" by Herb Jeffries on the Exclusive-label.
(c) Herb Jeffries (1947) (as "When I Write My Song")
with Buddy Baker and his Orchestra
Released June 1947 on Exclusive 16-X
Or here:
(c) John Laurentz and Earl Hagen's Orchestra (1947) (as "When I Write My Song")
Recorded June 1947
Released August 1947 on Mercury 5060
(c) Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra (1949) (as "When I Write My Song")
with Buddy Clark (vocals)
Recorded July 1947
Released November 1949 on Columbia 38615
Or here:
(c) Freddy Martin and his Orchestra (1947) (as "When I Write My Song")
with Stuart Wade (vocals)
Recorded August 31, 1947 in New York
Released on RCA Victor 20-2473
Or here:
(c) Eddie Heywood and Bob Eberly (1947) (as "When I Write My Song")
Recorded September 4, 1947
Released on Decca 24195
The aria's melody also appears in the song "Night", written by John Lehmann and Herb Miller and recorded in 1960 by Jackie Wilson.
(c) Jackie Wilson (1960) (as "Night")
Released on Brunswick 9-55166
Listen here:
A montage of the last two lines of this aria has also been recorded by English alternative rock band Muse, and is included in the track titled "I Belong to You (+Mon Cœur S'ouvre à Ta Voix)" of their 2009 album The Resistance.
(c) Muse (2009) (as "I Belong to You (+Mon Cœur S'ouvre à Ta Voix)")
Listen here: "Mon Cœur" starts at 2 min and 15 sec in the YT below
More versions here:
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