UNIVERSITY OF UTAH LYRIC OPERA ENSEMBLE, SUSANNAH, Kingsbury Hall, 7:30 p.m. April 20-21; tickets at 801-581-7100 or www.kingsburyhall.org

Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah makes a powerful statement against the people who use religion to indict those who don’t conform to their self righteous standards. Based on the Old Testament story of Susannah and the Elders, Floyd cleverly transposes it to 1950s Appalachia without compromising the impact of the original.

The plot of Floyd’s opera is a straightforward yet compelling story of how malicious gossip and self righteousness can destroy a family. Susannah and her brother Sam aren’t liked by the townspeople. But things turn ugly when the Elders happen across her bathing in a creek. In their minds her nudity is sinful, and things only get worse as everyone falsely begins accusing Susannah of being a whore. It ends with Sam killing the itinerant preacher Olin Blitch and running into the hills to hide from a lynch mob, who then descend on Susannah and try to drive her away.

Melissa Heath

The University of Utah’s Lyric Opera Ensemble has a winner with their spring production of Susannah. It will be performing Floyd’s 1955 opera today and tomorrow, and this is without question one of the best productions the ensemble has staged under Robert Breault’s leadership and guidance.

Reichel Recommends attended the dress rehearsal Wednesday (which had the cast that will perform it today). It seems that every year the productions get better and stronger and Susannah really shows that the group performs on a professional level. This could easily be a part of the Utah Opera’s regular season (and given the rather uneven quality of some of the productions at Utah Opera in the last couple of seasons, Susannah can easily surpass  the level of performance by many of the singers engaged by Salt Lake’s professional opera company).

In the forefront of this cast is Melissa Heath in the title role. This is a wonderful vehicle for her. Heath’s vocal talents and acting chops are remarkable and she brings credibility to her  portrayal. It’s heartbreaking seeing her transform from a sweet young teenager to a woman who has lost the will to live. But when it counts, Susannah draws on her inner strength and stands up to the townspeople who have come to force her to leave, and Heath was impressive in conveying these changes in her character.

Daniel Tuutau

Daniel Tuutau as Olin Blitch was in excellent voice, and as an actor he almost stole the show from Heath. His mannerisms, gestures and facial expressions in the tent revival scene brought credence to his role. However, his portrayal of Blitch at his weakest, where he shows genuine remorse for having sex with Susannah – the point in the story when he realizes that she truly is innocent and not deserving of the people’s hatred – was moving and poignant.

Andrew Maughan

Andrew Maughan gave a strong performance as Susannah’s older brother Sam. Maughan sang with feeling and brought tenderness to his scenes with Heath.

The rest of cast was on an equally high level.

Michael Scarola co-directs (with Breault). His pacing was wonderfully taut and brought seamless continuity between the scenes. He created and maintained dramatic tension throughout the work

The Utah Philharmonia under conductor Robert Baldwin played exceptionally well. These are top notch musicians who played with well executed articulation and expressive lyricism.

This is one of the not-to-be-missed performances of the season.