What: Handel’s Messiah
Where: Farquhar Auditorium at the University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Rd.
When: Friday, Dec. 20 (8 p.m.) and Sunday, Dec. 22 (2:30 p.m.)
Tickets: $35-$55 through the UVic Ticket Centre (250-721-8480) or tickets.uvic.ca
Brett Polegato has performed in most of the world’s major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, where he sang in Jules Massenet’s Manon during his Met debut in October. But for all his on-stage experience, Polegato has yet to perform one very important piece in his repertoire for British Columbia audiences.
“I have been singing Handel’s Messiah for 30 years, and I’ve easily done 150 performances of it,” Polegato said. “I’ve also recorded it three times. But I’ve never sung Messiah on the West Coast. The farthest west I have performed it is in Calgary. That’s exciting for me because it’s a piece I have been doing for 30 years, so I think I have a take on the part. It’s nice to be able to stand up and show people my interpretation of the arias.”
The baritone will have his opportunity this weekend with performances of Messiah at the University of Victoria’s Farquhar Auditorium on Friday and Sunday. Victoria has been a constant in Polegato’s career thus far. He has been singing on local stages since 1993, his most recent appearance coming in the role of Marcello in Pacific Opera Victoria’s 2018 production of La bohème. He will join soprano Lara Ciekiewicz, alto Andrea Hill, tenor Josh Lovell at UVic for performances with conductor Giuseppe Pietraroia and the Victoria Symphony, a dream team of collaborators with a range of worldwide experience.
There’s nothing like being on stage and performing one of the world’s most famous oratorios with a full chorus behind you, Polegato said. In this case, the singers and orchestra will be backed by the 100-person Victoria Choral Society and director Brian Wismath, which gives the production a sound that is very different from classic opera because of its use of a choir, soloists, and instrumental ensemble.
“Many of my colleagues in other cities who are opera singers are simply that — opera singers — and they spend the majority of their career doing opera,” he said. “I’m one of the lucky ones. I get to do operas, I get to do oratorios, I get to do recitals, and there are aspects of each one of those disciplines that I really enjoy. But I do love these oratorios, and being on stage and feeling the orchestra vibrating in the floor, and hearing those voices behind you.”
Polegato has sung Messiah with Toronto’s Tafelmusik Baroque orchestra and chamber choir as well as the Toronto Symphony, so he’s well prepared. Because the famous piece is rarely done in its entirety, however, there’s an element of surprise with each performance, depending on the direction undertaken by each company. And while performances of Messiah can vary greatly in length and structure, the audience is always willing, Polegato said.
”It’s the kind of piece that is hard to destroy,” the native of Niagara, Ont., said with a laugh. “It lends itself to a variety of interpretations and approaches. I never feel that I am just doing Messiah. I know that, no matter where I go, there will be something different to it. It’s always new.”
Polegato lives in Toronto when he is off the road, but is almost never there. “ I think I will have spent 30 days there by the end of this year,” he said. He will make a quick stopover in Toronto following his performances in Victoria this weekend, before heading south to be with the rest of his family in Niagara Falls for Christmas.
His break will be well earned. The veteran of performances with the Boston Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony has a full slate schedule for January, and expects his career path to continue its upward rise in 2020. That’s the nice thing about performing Messiah around Christmas each year, Polegato said. Its jubilant tone always caps the calendar with an emphatic and heartfelt exclamation point, he added.
“It’s such a gift to be on stage performing for people anyway, but with this piece in particular, I’m always reminded of something that Robert Shaw, the famous American conductor, used to say to his singers. Before they would go out for a concert, he would say: ‘Just remember, there is someone in the audience tonight hearing this piece for the first time, and there is someone hearing it for the last time.’ It’s an expression I remember in particular with this work, because I look around and think: ‘Who won’t be here next year to hear this? Who do I really have to make it count for?’ It’s a really great moment for me to commune with an audience.”
