Review: 'Susannah'
'As real as ever'
ByPeter Jacobi
October 22, 2007
All operas, of course, beg for staging. They’re musical theater, after all. But while some, like the other IU Opera Theater selections on the schedule this autumn — Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and Puccini’s “La Boheme” — merely beg for that, the work currently on view at the Musical Arts Center, Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah,” demands it.
The bookends have, after all their years of public exposure, such familiar scores. Their music is so filled with melodies, which not only fall pleasurably on the ears but by now reflect emotional content. Seeing these operas is a joy, but even just hearing them, if they’re sung skillfully, brings satisfaction. “Susannah,” though it is probably the most performed American opera, contains music not nearly so well known, not quite so accessible, and, thus, not so translatable without seeing to go along with hearing.
Besides, the story of “Susannah” holds high drama, this as one watches the life of a young innocent destroyed by innuendo, hypocrisy and false charges of sexual misconduct. Composer Floyd chose rural Tennessee early in the 20th century as his time and place, but it is reflective of the 1950s, when he wrote the opera, the infamous McCarthy era, and, lo and behold, the theme seems as disturbingly real today as ever, in the post 9/11 environment.
Watching the hapless heroine being ostracized and turn into an embittered recluse is rattling, even more so while, in tandem, also listening to Floyd’s mode of expression, his chosen musical language: a blend of often dissonant declamation; haunting folk idioms used in disquieting contrast; an occasional, carefully placed soliloquy; and seething orchestral mounts to emotion-laden climaxes.
Fortunately, the visual aspects of this production complement Floyd’s intent. That means C. David Higgins’ evocative sets, with rough-hewn dwellings amidst a landscape viscerally insinuating oppressive heat. That means Mike Schwandt’s atmospheric lighting.
That means intense staging by veteran guest director Michael Ehrman, to the point where, down to the last chorister, personalities have been infused, so that a viewer could either sympathize or at least empathize with not only Susannah, the victim, but those in the act of undoing her individuality, whether maliciously so or through blind faith in what they’re told.
Floyd wrote no interludes for switches in scenes (there are 10 in this two-act opera). Thus, while waiting for frantic stagehands to make the constant set changes from town center to Susannah’s cabin to woodland and back, one wished for a turntable production. But Higgins’ vision of place casts mood splendidly, nevertheless.
Musically, another guest, Stephen Smith, a young man who directs the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus, kept a firm hand on the IU Concert Orchestra in the pit, a resonant-sounding, William Jon Gray-trained chorus on stage (especially impressive in a riveting revival scene), and two casts that contributed spirit aplenty to the performances.
Elizabeth Ashantiva on opening night and Betsy Uschkrat on Saturday were fully convincing as Susannah, lending not only their vocal abilities but their beauty to the task. Guided by director Ehrman, their descent into isolated bitterness was fully believable.
Tenors Mark Van Arsdale and Nicholas Nesbitt took lyrical care of their assignments: the portrayal of Susannah’s somewhat indolent yet devoted brother, who catapults the plot into full-scale tragedy with an act of retributive violence.
His prey is the traveling preacher Olin Blitch, a saver of souls who undermines his own by sexually victimizing a defeated, drained Susannah. Aleksey Bogdanov, he of a superb baritone, and Cody Medina, pushing his bass baritone to the dramatic limit, shared that critical role, and did so dynamically. Michael Cummings and Matthew Wells added presence as the opera’s other major character, the well-meaning but destructive Little Bat.
English subtitles for this English language opera helped communicate the full meaning of the words, which otherwise sometimes might have been lost in the crush of the music.
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music would like
to thank the Herald Times for permission to republish this review.
