LuPone in "To Hell & Back"

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Posted: 6/7/07 at 1:22pm

Here is the review of Paul Hegge's "To Hell & Back" that appeared in Chicago's Sun-Times:

Baroque opera in modern twist
REVIEW | Vocalists, orchestra give fire to Jake Heggie's chamber drama

June 7, 2007
BY DOROTHY ANDRIES Pioneer Press
The first notes of Jake Heggie's "To Hell and Back" foretold violence. The turbulence that roiled through the Ravinia Festival's Martin Theatre was palpable as the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, led by Nicholas McGegan, presented the Chicago premiere of this music drama about spousal abuse.

The characters, however, were not husband and wife but a bride named Stephanie, sung by soprano Marnie Breckenridge, and her mother-in-law, Anne, portrayed by Broadway star and Ravinia favorite Patti LuPone.


» Click to enlarge image

Patti LuPone (right) in Jake Heggie's "To Hell and Back," performed Tuesday with Nicholas McGegan leading the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra at Ravinia.


'TO HELL AND BACK'
At the Ravinia Festival McGegan commissioned the piece, which had its world premiere last fall, to celebrate the orchestra's 25th anniversary. The novelty of the 40-minute chamber opera is that it uses period instrumentation for a contemporary drama. Based on Greek poet Ovid's "The Rape of Persephone" and with a libretto by Gene Sheer, "To Hell and Back" moves in and out of time, and then flashes back to reveal the women's history with each other.
Sitting on opposite sides of the stage, each with a table, chair and telephone, the women engaged in a cross-country phone conversation. The story begins as Stephanie relates how her husband has physically abused her, beginning on their wedding night. Anne recalls how she noticed her daughter-in-law's fearfulness and thus sensed what was happening. In Saturday-afternoon gardening sessions, the women had established a bond of love and respect. After finding Stephanie nearly beaten to death one day, Anne buys her a plane ticket to Arizona, where she can recover, and thus saves her life.

Substituting for soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, who canceled due to bronchitis, Breckenridge was an ethereal Stephanie. Her voice shone as she sang of the wildflowers she had gathered for her wedding bouquet, and then her mood darkened as she asked, "How does a girl of dreams become a queen of hell?"

LuPone, a vocal powerhouse, was perfection as the world-weary Anne, giving a soul-searing performance. "Sweet sister, run away," she cried, then added in anguish: "You can leave your husband, but how do I leave my son?"

Sheer's libretto doesn't offer much poetry, though Stephanie's wildflower song was radiant, and the women's garden duet flowed together beautifully. Anything too slick, however, would have been out of place. This stark tale of two women, both gravely injured by the same man, demanded straight talk.

Heggie's music was tonal but rarely pretty. As befits a musical drama, the score portrayed by turns tenderness, fear and grief. Conventional harmonies were rare but the voices were striking, and the duets had a freshly astringent quality.

McGegan and orchestra were equally at home in Heggie's drama and the Baroque works by Rameau and Handel that opened the program.