Anna Dennis, Susanna; Matthew Brook, Chelsias; Claire Lees, Daniel; James Hall, Joacim; Dorna Ashory, Teige Bisnought, Aaron Chaplin. Pikolwethu Luke, Graciela Mariqueo-Smith, Hannah McGlashon, Yasmina Patel, Tony Polo and other Phoenix Company Dancers. Johanna Soller, Conductor; Olivia Fuchs, Director; Marcus Jarrell Willis, Choreographer; Zahra Mansouri, Set & Costume Designer; Jake Wiltshire, Lighting Designer
Another Handel oratorio/opera new to me! This was directed by Olivia Fuchs, who had also directed recently the brilliant WNO Britten Death in Venice, and, like that production (which had involved circus acrobats) this brought together singers from ON with artists from another medium, in this case a dance company. Handel composed the music in the summer of 1748 and the work had its first performance at Covent Garden in February 1749. The story is taken from the apocryphal 13th chapter of the Old Testament Book of Daniel and involves the newly wed and virtuous Susanna, her faithful new husband Joacim, and some creepy Elders who try to seduce her and then accuse her of illicit sex outside her marriage. The prophet Daniel intervenes to sort things out and the Elders are suitably punished.
The day of the performance coincided with Storm Claudia which produced 50 mph winds and 24 hours’ worth of driving rain. My normal last train from Manchester was cancelled, and I was on the point of not going to the performance when I realised there was another way of getting back, albeit with difficulty, and that I would feel feeble if I missed seeing this work, probably my only chance to experience it live. I arrived at the Lowry thoroughly soaked, dripping with rain, with 15 minutes to go before curtain up. The Lowry had a far fuller audience than I have seen for other ON performances there, and also more diverse. I think perhaps this might have been the dance element bringing a different group along.
I hadn’t heard a note of this work before seeing it live – as with almost all the Handel opera and oratorios I have come across over the last few years. It has some fine numbers – the beautiful aria “Chastity. Thou Cherub Bright” which Daniel sings, and Susanna’s ‘Crystal Streams in Water Flowing’ – and there are some splendid choruses.
It felt perhaps more than some of Handel’s oratorios a little clunky as a staged piece – there is perhaps too slight a plot for 2 and a quarter hours and it feels quite static at times – nothing to do with the direction, but simply the ratio between action moving the plot forward and da capo arias and choruses. Hence I suppose the idea of teaming up with a dance company in performing the work, to enhance the interest of what was happening on stage. This idea worked for some but not all the time. This may be in part a personal reaction – I am much more an aural person than a visual one, and have never really responded that positively to dance and ballet. At times the dancers were making an effective commentary – a writhing dancer coming out of the bath tub in which Susanna is shortly to be propositioned by the Elders was a great piece of theatre, and some of the dancing at the beginning and end – during the wedding, and the rejoicing when Susanna is declared innocent – were both spectacular and relevant. But there were sections when the dancers unaccountably disappeared – it wasn’t very clear what the logic for their being or not being on stage was. To add to what was happening, there was also a BSL interpreter integrated with the crowd, who again came and went a bit.
You can see the costumes and set designs in the following trailer/advert, and in the photos at the end – Handel’s Susanna I Trailer (Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre) and Susanna | Opera North. The set was functional and the upper gallery was effective, so that both Susanna’s father, Joacim, Daniel and the two Elders could be seen to be singing from a different perspective or place. Quite what the metal Christmas tree thing upstage right was doing, or why the set was so cold-looking and grey I am not sure. Costumes were vaguely modern, mostly shades of brown and grey with Susanna in dazzling white and Joacim in a smart dark suit/white shirt. I suppose the general sense was of a monochrome society, and Susanna stands out in this production not only for her virtue and ‘chastity’ but also for the strength with which she defends herself against the two Elders and the miscarriage of justice, ending up with her flooring both the Elders, kicking one of them and holding the other in an arm lock which is wratched-up ever tighter as she goes up the scales with her coloratura.
In terms of singing and acting, this was a very strong cast and performance. I was struck first by the idiomatic playing, energy, and sheer joi-de-vivre of the ON orchestra. I have never come across her name before but whoever Johanna Soller is, she did a very good job with the orchestra. The choruses were strongly sung too – everyone sounding as though they were singing loud enough for two people, and with impressive discipline. Anna Dennis as Susanna was stunning. I kept trying to think where I had heard her name before, but certainly in this performance her singing and acting were outstanding – a pure voice without much vibrato, the coloratura pinged out with extraordinary accuracy, good shading of words and music, and she projected powerfully the sense of a driven, angry woman unjustly accused of adultery. The aria “Guilt trembling spoke my doom” was spectacularly delivered (and very well played by the orchestra). James Hall, another unfamiliar name, was truly excellent as Joacim, his countertenor voice not at all ‘hooty’ but strong, flexible, and clear with, again, excellent coloratura singing and some amazingly powerful top notes – he acted very well too. Claire Lees sang beautifully as Daniel in her big aria about chastity, and all the other parts were well taken.
Altogether this is a piece I’d love to hear again.
John's musical journey 