Following an acclaimed all-Handel season of film, Haymarket Opera Company (HOC) returns to live performances in March, 2022 with Stradella's La Susanna. This dramatic setting of the biblical parable of Susanna and the Elders premiered in Modena in 1681, shortly before Stradella's death. Don't miss the Chicago premiere of Stradella's poignant score! 

Stradella’s emotionally heightened score calls for only five voices--a narrator, Susanna, the Elders, and Daniel--who also sing the moralizing choruses. Following her expressive portrayal of Damon in Acis and Galatea, soprano Kaitlin Foley stars in the title role. Soprano Kristin Knutson, acclaimed by audiences for her elegant portrayal of Ariadne in HOC’s modern-day premiere of Marais’s Ariane et Bachus, sings the role of the fiery prophet Daniel. Mezzo soprano Quinn Middleman narrates the story in the role of Testo. Baritone Aaron Wardell and tenor William Dwyer return to Haymarket as the lecherous and deceitful pair of elders.

While Stradella is famous for originating the large orchestral concerto grosso which Corelli then brought to fame, he chose to write for an intimate ensemble of only five players in La Susanna: two violins, cello, theorbo, and keyboard. Chicago musicians jeri-Lou Zike, Martin Davids, Brandon Acker, Jason Moy, and Craig Trompeter play Stradella's emotionally rich counterpoint. 

For more information on the Haymarket Opera Company, visit their website.

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