Anna Dennis’ serious and intent Susanna was rightly the main focus of John Butt & Dunedin Consort’s involving account of Handel’s neglected oratorio

Anna Dennis

Handel: Susanna; Anna Dennis, Alexander Chance, Jessica Cale, Joshua Ellicott, Matthew Brook, Dunedin Consort, John Butt; Church of St Martin in the Fields
Reviewed 24 January 2025

Given complete, this wonderfully involving account of Handel’s woefully neglected Susanna revealed why the work should be considered alongside his other masterpieces

Whilst we talk of Handelian oratorio, the composer’s own conception of the genre rarely stood still. From 1739 to 1745, his sequence of oratorios consisted of Saul, Israel in Egypt, L’Allegro, Messiah, Samson, Semele, Joseph and his Brethren, Hercules and Belshazzar. Presenting us with a remarkable breadth when it comes to trying to pin down what exactly ‘oratorio’ meant to its creator. Of course, in 1745, external events intruded and for the next few years, Handel’s works veered towards to martial and bellicose.

By 1749, he clearly felt enough time had passed to look elsewhere. That year, he premiered two new works, Susanna and Solomon, both works take a somewhat oblique approach to the conventions of dramatic oratorio. Rather coincidentally, both works have received recent London performances, giving us a chance to compare and contrast. Earlier this month, Paul McCreesh directed the Gabriel Consort & Players in Handel’s Solomon [see my review], then on Friday 24 January 2025, John Butt directed the Dunedin Consort in Handel’s Susanna at the Church of St Martin in the Fields.

Another link between Susanna and Solomon is Handel’s casting. The mezzo-soprano Caterina Galli sang both Solomon and Joacim in Susanna, whilst soprano Giulia Frasi sang the three soprano roles in Solomon and the title role in Susanna. Rather intriguingly for modern-day London audiences, soprano Anna Dennis was common to both the recent Handel performances, singing the Queen of Sheba in Solomon for Paul McCreesh, and then singing the title role in Handel’s Susanna for John Butt and the Dunedin Consort. She was joined by Alexander Chance as Joacim, Jessica Cale as Daniel (and an attendant), Joshua Ellicott and Matthew Brook as the elders.

Susanna is a slightly curious work, perhaps we can regard it as experimental. The chorus provides a serious frame for the drama, commenting rather than taking part and giving the work a rather sombre cast. The large scale of the choruses moves the work somewhat away from the more comic opera elements that Handel incorporates into the drama. There are lighter elements and some arias (notably those for Susanna’s attendant in Part Two) would not go amiss in ballad opera, but the overall tone of the work is rather more serious than that. Despite comic elements, the two Elders are robustly characterised whilst Susanna herself is serious. This is a work about innocence traduced, and Handel uses much of Part One to establish both Susanna’s goodness and her strong relationship with her husband, Joacim. The strength of their marital love is one of the work’s contributing themes.

Anna Dennis as Susanna was the focus of the drama. From the first, Dennis made her serious and intent, her first two airs, during the opening scene with Alexander Chance’s Joacim, full of lyrical beauty yet comic opera was far away. Her final air in Part One, lamenting Joacim’s absence grew remarkably intense, complemented by richly rewarding instrumental accompaniment. In Part Two, the gracious delight of her best-known air, ‘Crystal streams in murmurs flowing’ was done with great beauty and seriousness of purpose, we never doubt for one moment her devotion to her husband. Her air during her accusation, ‘If guiltless blood be your intent’ was tunefully lyrical, almost ballad opera, yet done as a da capo aria, thus allowing Matthew Brook’s second Elder to interrupt her. In Part Three, her declaration of faith, ‘Faith displays her rosy wing’ had a fine intent quality complemented by Handel’s fascinating orchestration. The heart of this scene is perhaps her accompagnato whilst her final air was surprisingly urgent and lacking in triumph.

Susanna has two duets with Joacim, the first plunges us into the perky delight of their mutual love, whilst their final one has a surprisingly lively vigour. Joacim is not the most complex of characters, he spends most of the drama away from his wife and remains admirably steadfast. Alexander Chance sang with lovely clarity with beauty of phrasing, his second air continuing the mood of perky delight, celebrating martial love. His air, sung just before he departed, was given an appealing melodiousness by Chance. His contributions to Part Two, airs at the beginning and end, were similarly melodious though the second one has a suitable urgency to it with impressive passagework from Chance. His final aria, after his wife’s reprieve, as wonderfully vigorous. Throughout Chance managed to make Joacim an appealing and urgent character rather than the dim cypher that he can be.

Matthew Brook made Susanna’s father, Chelsias, rather vigorous, lacking the swagger we might have expected and his second air being richly sonorous. There is, admittedly, something of the prosy bore about Chelsias though Brook’s performances are thankfully never boring. When the character returns at the end, Brook’s vigorous performance was complemented by the first appearance of the trumpet in the orchestra.

Brook and Joshua Ellicott were the Elders, here vigorously characterised and not really comic. Handel’s music for them is slightly old-fashioned and very proper, these are people who take themselves seriously and whose behaviour is completely at odds with their self-image. In Part One we are introduced to their lamentations about sexual desire as the body ages, Ellicott was wonderfully proper in his courtly air whilst Brook was vigorous. With both, the mismatch between their music and their intention providing the element of humour. In Part Two, things get really nasty and Dennis’ Susanna gave as good as she got in the recitative, whilst both Elders’ airs were again proper and correct, thus continuing the mismatch. And at the end, Brook’s threat to her was suitably chilling. The trio at this point, provided fine contrast between the three characters. In Part Three, Ellicott’s air of lament was wonderfully two-faced whilst Brook’s anger was in his vigorous recitative.

Jessica Cale sang Susanna’s attendant in Part Two, bringing great beauty and style to the characters two lyrical ballads, these were moments of great charm. Cale reappeared in Part Three as a very vigorous and challenging Daniel running rings round everyone in the recitatives and concluding with plangent beauty in a fabulous account of ‘Chastity, thou cherub bright’. Robert Davies (from the chorus) provided sterling support as the Judge in Part Three.

The sixteen strong chorus was on strong form. The majority of choruses are large-scale and serious, yet full of variety and the singers never disappointed from the sober opening chorus with its sense of a stately dance through to the vigour of the final one, with trumpets, in praise of the virtuous wife. Along the way, Handel treats us two a wide variety, yet the seriousness and clarity of the performance was never in doubt.

Orchestrally, Handel was not interested in the sonic splendour of Solomon, his main engine for the drama is the string orchestra, with sparing use of oboes and bassoon and when he does use them they really counted. There were lots of moments in this performance where we enjoyed the rewarding richness of Handel’s orchestration. Trumpets only appear in the final scene and their presence added a suitable life to a conclusion that perhaps lacks the triumph we might have expected.

John Butt brought his familiar feel for Handel’s music to the performance as well as a clear sense of purpose in shaping the various strands of the work’s drama to create an almost coherent whole.

Diction was admirable throughout, so that we hardly needed the printed words. Though this did mean that the slightly substandard quality to some of the anonymous libretto was rather highlighted. Alexander Chance did his best but with phrases like ‘A flame like mins, so faithful and so pure, Shall to the length of latest time endure’, it was hard work for him not to make Joacim self-satisfied and up himself, luckily Handel’s music does not follow the words.

My previous encounters with Handel’s Susanna have involved the work being cut so it was a pleasure to hear the complete work. Perhaps it would benefit from slight snips, we had well over three hours of music, but it was a joy to experience this complex work in such a fine performance which brought coherence to the vagaries of the drama.