PATTI LUPONE: TO HELL AND BACK, 4 BAY AREA CONCERTS NOV.2-5
Broadway World, NY
Nov 2 2006
For the first time in its 26-year history, Philharmonia Baroque
Orchestra (PBO) proudly presents a newly-commissioned work, written
specifically for the Orchestra and its Baroque instruments. The
one-act opera, entitled To Hell and Back, is by San Francisco composer
Jake Heggie, with a libretto by New York librettist Gene Scheer. The
one-act opera combines a modern aesthetic with mythological stories
with Baroque stylistic elements.
The opera will feature young Canadian-Armenian soprano Isabel
Bayrakdarian and Broadway legend Patti LuPone.
The world premiere of Heggie’s To Hell and Back will be part of
the PBO’s repertory Metamorphoses, which also includes Locatelli’s
Concerto grosso Op. 7 No. 6, Il pianto d’Arianna and Geminiani’s The
Inchanted Forrest.
Concert Info:
Mountain View – 8:00PM Thursday, Nov. 2 – Mountain View Center for
the Performing Arts (500 Castro St.) San Francisco – 8:00PM Friday,
Nov. 3 – Herbst Theatre (401 Van Ness Avenue) Berkeley – 8:00PM
Saturday, Nov. 4 – First Congregational Church (2345 Channing Way)
and 7:30PM Sunday, Nov. 5 (same venue)
Tickets ($29-$67) for the San Francisco and Berkeley performances are
available through City Box Office at 415-392-4400. Tickets for the
Mountain View performance are available at 650-903-6000. Also, tickets
for both venues can be purchased online at For
more information, call Philharmonia at 415-252-1288.
Patti LuPone is known for her acclaimed and Tony award-winning roles on
and off Broadway. She recently concluded a run as Mrs. Lovett in John
Doyle’s hit Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. Other significant
credits include roles in Gypsy, Noises Off, Master Class, A Little
Night Music, Passion, Anything Goes, and Evita in locales such as
London, San Francisco, and Ravinia, in addition to New York.
To Hell and Back is a new venture for LuPone, who will be singing
with a period-instrument orchestra for the first time.
Isabel Bayrakdarian won first prize in the 2000 Operalia competition,
and since then has appeared in notable opera houses across the globe.
Her signature roles include many Mozart and Handelian heroines. A
diverse performer, she is becoming known as an expert on the music of
Armenia’s iconic composer, Gomidas, and has appeared with Canada’s
two pre-eminent period-instrument orchestras, Tafelmusik and Les
Violons du Roy. To Hell and Back is the first piece written for
Bayrakdarian’s voice.
Jake Heggie’s recent ventures include the operas Dead Man Walking
and The End of the Affair. He has written pieces for organizations
from San Francisco Opera and Houston Grand Opera to Oakland East
Bay Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmic and Chanticleer. Heggie was
the recipient of a 2005-06 Guggenheim Fellowship, and is currently
working on a commission for the Metropolitan Opera.
The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra has earned much recent acclaim, both
at home and internationally. The group was chosen as Musical America’s
"Ensemble of the Year" for 2004, and since then has made debuts at
Carnegie Hall in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles,
Royal Albert Hall in London, and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.