You might not think George Frederick Handel would suddenly find a new relevance in the era of MeToo. Yet his 1749 oratorio Susanna fits the bill perfectly. It tells the biblical story of a noblewoman who fights off two would-be rapists only to be accused by them of being a “loose woman”, and sentenced to death. Opera North’s new take on this work is one of occasional eloquence but also frustrating busyness.
Handel’s operas and oratorios often have an erotic charge, but Susanna is nobly chaste from beginning to end. Perhaps that’s why Opera North decided to involve the Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Company, to animate a work that might otherwise seem chilly.
When Anna and her husband Joacim part in the first act, there are two dancers to mimic their sorrow. When the two “Elders” who lust after Susanna sneak up on her as she takes an afternoon bath, two dancers become their doubles in gestures of comic lust. And in the big choral scenes, such as the trial where Susanna pleads her innocence, the stage is packed with swirling movement, all framed in Zahra Mansouri’s minimalist staging which is vaguely suggestive of different floors of a palace.
Opera North’s Susanna – Tristram Kenton
It is expressive and graceful but also distracting, and shows a lack of faith in the ability of Handel’s music and the singers to bring the drama to life. In fact, when you could actually see her through the swirl of bodies, Anna Dennis was moving as the wronged wife. Her small but perfectly honed voice, which can seem lacking in warmth, felt exactly right here. James Hall was expressive in his anguish, if not especially distinguished vocally as her husband Joacim, Colin Judson and Karl Muml were amusing as the two seedy Elders, like a couple of besuited salesmen who haunt strip bars.
Anna Dennis as Susanna – Tristram Kenton
The most distinguished singer on stage was Claire Lees, touchingly innocent as the boy Daniel who sets a trap for the Elders to prove Susanna’s innocence. The chorus, who were called on to gesture almost as extravagantly as the dancers were on fine form, as was the orchestra, enriched with harpsichord and bass lute. Conductor Johanna Soller’s judicious tempos allowed the passion and stateliness of Handel’s music to shine through. The problem is that what should have been an enriching embellishment – the dance – has almost taken over the show.
At Grand Theatre Leeds until Nov 21, then touring; operanorth.co.uk
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