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Commentary
14 May 2019
The London Handel Festival and The Royal Opera announce a co-production of Handel’s Susanna starring members of The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme
The London Handel Festival and The Royal Opera today [14 May 2019] announced a co-production of Handel’s oratorio Susanna as part of the 2020 London Handel Festival. The new production, performed in English in the Linbury Theatre [5 - 14 March 2020], will star members and Link Artists from The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme. Handel’s Susanna was written for Covent Garden and had its premiere on the site in 1749, but has not been performed at Covent Garden since.
Samir Savant, Festival Director of the London Handel Festival, said: ‘We
are delighted to be working again with the Royal Opera House after the
acclaimed success of Berenice in this year’s London Handel
Festival. The Linbury Theatre is the perfect setting for Susanna,
and we look forward to working with the Jette Parker Young Artists. The
scheme provides outstanding opportunities for young talent, which is in
line with our major aim to encourage and promote the next generation of
performers’.
Director Isabelle Kettle, who joins the Jette Parker Young Artists
Programme from the 2019/20 Season, makes her Royal Opera directing debut
with Susanna. Patrick Milne, who joined the Jette Parker Young
Artists Programme in September 2018, will make his Linbury Theatre
conducting debut with Susanna.
The cast is led by South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha who
takes the title role. Chilean soprano Yaritza Véliz sings Daniel,
Scottish-Iranian bass-baritone Michael Mofidian sings Chelsias and Judge,
and Uruguayan tenor Andrés Presno sings the First Elder. American
countertenor Patrick Terry, who came second in the 2019 Handel Singing
Competition, sings Susanna’s husband Joacim. Terry recently made his Royal
Opera debut singing the role of Arsace in Berenice, the first
co-production between the London Handel Festival and The Royal Opera. The
remainder of the cast are two Link Artists of the Jette Parker Young
Artists Programme: April Koyejo-Audiger and Blaise Malaba, making their
Royal Opera debuts.
The London Handel Festival today also announces three further concerts this
year following the success of the 2019 Festival. The three concerts will
all take place at St George’s Hanover Square, Handel’s own church. On 18
June the London Handel Orchestra and Pegasus Choir perform Handel’s Choice of Hercules and Bach’s Magnificat, conducted by Adrian
Butterfield. The soloists are Joanne Lunn, Anna Dennis, Patrick Terry,
Laurence Killsby and Hugo Herman-Wilson. September sees the annual Handel
Singing Competition showcase, featuring Laurence Cummings and the 2019
finalists. Completing the year is the Festival’s annual presentation of
Handel’s Messiah, performed by the London Handel Orchestra and the
Choir of St George’s.
The full programme of the 2020 London Handel Festival, ‘Handel and the
Hanoverians’ will be announced later this year.
Susanna
cast
All cast are members of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, or JPYAP
Link Artists
Patrick Milne conductor
Isabelle Kettle director
Masabene Cecilia Rangwanasha Susanna
Patrick Terry Joacim
Yaritza Véliz Daniel
April Koyejo-Audiger Attendant
Michael Mofidian Chelsias and Judge
Andrés Presno First Elder
Blaise Malaba Second Elder
www.london-handel-festival.com