Preachers may preach and congregants may say a thousand amens but anyone who’s ever attended church knows that while the Bible says judgment is reserved for the Lord, it’s often members of the congregation who undertake that task. With relish.
That’s certainly true in Susannah the opera by the late Carlisle Floyd that anyone who has ever heard the story of Susannah and the Elders, will recognize.
The wives in a small church set in the Appalachians in Tennessee dislike Susannah because she is young and pretty and their husbands stare at her. So, they gossip about her and spread hateful remarks. For her part, Susannah is an innocent, not realizing the lies swirling around her.
After Susannah is seen bathing naked in a creek by the church leaders, that condemning judgment only intensifies and quickly moves into tragedy. She is shunned by her church and a false story is concocted about her. The minister, the Reverend Olin Blitch, comes to her home and rapes her. That he comes to regret what he’s done, does not help her in any way.
Susannah is considered one of the early American operas. It’s one of the only ones where the composer is also the librettist. It departs from the usual in other ways as it’s infused with revival hymns and Appalachian folksong.
Renowned baritone Rod Gilfry (most recently seen as Baron Scarpia in Tosca at Houston Grand Opera) making his role debut as the Rev. Blitch, says while many people see the preacher as evil, he does not.
“He’s not a bad guy. I think he’s a flawed human. I think he’s a flawed individual. He has faults and he has foibles like all of us. I don’t think he waltzes into town looking for a girl to rape. I think he absolutely believes in what he’s preaching.
“If you look at, after he rapes Susannah how he prays for forgiveness,. He’s remorseful of the huge mistake that he’s made. He let his carnal desires take over. Probably not the first time he’s succumbed to that.
“Yes, anybody who rapes a woman, that’s a horrible act. But at the same time I think [the audience] can relate to him as a human.
Silvia D’Eramo (most recently seen in Silent Night), making her role debut, stars as Susannah, Bille Bruley as Sam; and tenor Aaron Blake, as Little Bat. Patricia Racette, a soprano who has sung the Susannah role, is the director. James Gaffigan will return to HGO as HGO’s new Music Director Designate.
Asked to describe Susannah, Gilfry says: “Susannah is 17 or 18. She’s been raised by her brother because both her parents are dead. And her brother, he’s a really sweet guy.He’s got a wonderful heart but he drinks a lot. He tries to keep them both alive. He hunts and fishes and traps all day and he’s drunk at night. So he’s got a bad reputation.
“[Susannah is] falsely accused of an amoral act, She’s bathing in the creek. Because of their [church leaders’] own erotic thoughts when they see her, she inspires these feelings that they consider to be shameful and unholy . That’s why they react so strongly,” Gilfry says.
“When it comes to her and Blitch, in the first scene she dances with him, innocently. He kind of singles her out. He’s just been told she’s evil. She’s been so beaten down by that point. She’s been ostracized by the community and told she has to repent. tells her she has to repent. She’s about to break down and do it [but] she realizes ‘I didn’t do anything wrong’ and she runs out. But she’s broken. She has no one now except her brother.”
Gilfry comes from a musical family. “My father was an orchestra and band leader at the high school and college level. He played every instrument in the band and orchestra because he had to teach them. My mom was an amateur singer. She did weddings and funerals, sang in church. She directed children’s choirs.
“In fact my parents owned a music store when I was very young. They sold it. The guy who they sold it to couldn’t pay the usual amount. So my dad would go occasionally . can I take some instruments in lieu of payment. “So we had a garage full of instruments.”
Gilfry says he never intended to make singing a career and, although he grew up hearing nothing but classical music at home, he says “I didn’t care about opera one bit.” He enjoyed being on stage and the attention he got while singing but his plan was to be a choir teacher.
But while taking voice lessons and winning regional competitions in California – he went to Cal State-Fullerton – he began to change his mind.
“As I got into it more I found it really challenging. All the different languages. Learning how to pronounce all these different languages was fascinating.
For people identifying Susannah as “modern” opera with accompanying fears about the music being atonal, Gilfry says: “It’s completely tonal. It’s melodic. It has some beautiful melodies. Some beautiful arias.”
Any opera doesn’t have to be relevant to today to be good, Gilfry says, butas it happens, Susannah is.
“Because it’s about people being identified as unacceptable, as other, as not part of the group and being ostracized. I think it’s a great piece of theater.”
Performances are scheduled for October 23 through November 8 at 7 p.m. Friday October 23, 7:30 p.m. Saturday October 31 and Friday, November 6 and 2 p.m. Sunday October 25 and Sunday November 8 at Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas. For more information, call 713-228-6737 or visit houstongrandopera.org. $25-$297.50.
