All y'all 'n' drawl

Its British premiere, an engagingly low-rent affair in the glamorous setting of a Willesden college, had to wait until 2001. At one point, Covent Garden was considering it. That idea has fallen by the wayside, so English Touring Opera's staging is its first professional UK production.

Floyd derived his plot from the Old Testament story of Susannah, whose radiant purity is defiled by local Elders. With an eye on the state of contemporary America, he relocated the action to the Tennessee mountains, where self-righteous religion and lust go hand in hand.

The result has a lot going for it: a powerful story; strong characters; pungent orchestration; above all, an abundance of lively melodies, some folkish, others more fully operatic.

Its biggest problem is its highly specific location, which makes it hard to imagine without the accents. Sure enough, ETO's cast expends so much energy perfecting a backwoods drawl that the words go missing.

The worst culprit is Donna Bateman, who sings the title role. She is not helped by the fact that conductor Alexander Ingram does not always use the orchestra's volume control, too often allowing the wind instruments to override the voices.

Still, Bateman captures Susannah's wide-eyed, not always credible innocence. At the opera's centre is her encounter with the wondrously named Olin Blitch, a hellfire preacher of questionable morals. He is the kind of charismatic villain that Andrew Slater was born to play, and he towers over the production, in the process delivering an object lesson in getting words across.

Directed by James Conway, the staging benefits from Soutra Gilmour's efficient single set, which allows the action to flow unimpeded but on its first night it still felt tentative; it will develop momentum as it travels.

No masterpiece, Susannah is nevertheless a genuine piece of storytelling through music. That is not something you can say about every modern opera.

Touring until 15 May: www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

English Touring Opera: Susannah
Hackney Empire
Mare Street, E8 1EJ