Few works mark the change from the friskiness of Italian opera to the sobriety of English oratorio like Handel’s Susanna. Premiered in 1749, its focus on female chastity took a swipe at a perceived decline in sexual morals, yet with a #MeToo story front and centre it offers ripe material for the modern age.
The story, taken from the Book of Daniel, concerns the happily married Susanna who falls victim to two lustful Elders while her husband is away on business. Rebuffed, the predatory pair accuse her of an illicit sexual liaison, condemning her to death until the youthful prophet Daniel – originally a boy soprano – proves they are lying.
Opera North’s staging, a collaboration with Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre, scores plenty of points with the occasional misfire. Director Olivia Fuchs works her socks off to focus on Susanna’s integrity rather than her extramarital celibacy (though it’s tricky when one of the oratorio’s greatest hits is Chastity, thou cherub bright). On the whole, though, she tells a crucially female-centric tale that holds the abuse of power and gendered violence up to deserved scrutiny.
Marcus Jarrell Willis creates some arresting moments for his nine dancers. At its best, the choreography digs beneath the music’s surface, illuminating the singers’ inner feelings. In an early duet, Susanna and her husband Joacim sing of marital bliss while a pair of dancers explore their bond of mutual support and the playfulness of their physical relationship. Later, a writhing dancer emerges from the bath into which Susanna is about to step, highlighting the steamy pleasures in store. Occasionally the dance gets in the way of the singers, and there are stretches when it is conspicuously absent, compromising the consistency of the dramatic flow. On the whole, though, it enhances the storytelling.
A worthy attempt to integrate British Sign Language into the production works intermittently, but most effectively when chorus gestures reveal the underlying structure of Handel’s vocal lines. Meanwhile, Johanna Soller does an excellent job in the pit, instruments scrupulously balanced, nature imagery deftly conjured, and tempi judiciously chosen. The Opera North Chorus are outstanding, singing and acting with enormous power and precision.
Among the principals, James Hall stands out as a warm, sympathetic Joacim, his nimble countertenor acing Handel’s showpieces. Matthew Brook is firm yet flexible as Susanna’s father with Colin Judson and Karl Huml effective enough as the conniving bureaucratic Elders. Soprano Claire Lees nearly steals the show as a New Age Daniel.
As for Anna Dennis’s Susanna, it’s a terrific performance, ravishing in the gently undulating Crystal Streams and furiously steely in If guiltless blood be your intent. Her final aria, in which amid the vocal fireworks she gets to give the Elders a good kicking, is a fitting tour de force.
• At Leeds Grand theatre, 11, 20 and 22 October. Then touring to 21 November
