Hugh’s Goes Classical with Brett Polegato and Robert Kortgaard

Hugh’s Goes Classical with Brett Polegato and Robert Kortgaard in the Green Sanderson Hall at Hugh's Room, 296 Broadview AvenueCurated by Eric Friesen and Angela Hewitt$40 in advance, $50 at the door Brett Polegato’s artistic sensibility has earned him the highest praise from audiences and critics: “his is a serious and seductive voice” says The Globe and Mail, and The New York Times has praised him for his “burnished, well-focused voice” which he uses with “considerable intelligence and nuance.” The Italian-Canadian baritone appears regularly on the world’s most distinguished stages, including those of Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Concertgebouw, the Opéra National de Paris, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, the Teatro Real, Roy Thomson Hall, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall, and has collaborated with such conductors as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Daniele Gatti, Andris Nelsons, Bernard Haitink, Seiji Ozawa, Jeffrey Tate, Marc Minkowski, and Martyn Brabbins. He can be heard as soloist in the Grammy Awards’ Best Classical Recording of 2003 – Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony (Telarc) with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano.In recognition of his lifetime achievement in the field of classical music, Brett was presented with a 2024 Opera Canada Ruby Award. The award represents the highest honour in Canadian opera. Pianist Robert Kortgaard was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. He completed his Bachelor and Master’s degrees at the Juilliard School in New York City. As a recipient of arts awards from the Canada Council, he furthered his musical studies in Italy and England. Mr. Kortgaard has performed as a soloist with major Canadian orchestras and has given recitals throughout Canada and the United States, as well as in England, Finland, Portugal, Italy, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, China and Japan. He is a favourite collaborator of many of Canada’s finest instrumental soloists, vocalists and chamber groups. His performances are frequently heard on CBC Radio, and he has recorded for the Centrediscs, Marquis Classics/EMI, CBC Records, Teldec and ATMA Classique labels. Brett Polegato, baritoneRobert Kortgaard, pianoPROGRAM: And So it Goes …A CabaretSigmund Romberg: “The Desert Song” (from The Desert Song)Sigmund Romberg: “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise” (from The New Moon)Ivor Novello: “And Her Mother Came Too” (from A to Z)Ivor Novello: “Fly Home, Little Heart” (from King’s Rhapsody)Franz Grothe: “Illusion”Cole Porter: “Begin the Beguine”Cole Porter: “Miss Otis Regrets”Noël Coward: “Nina” (from Sigh No More)Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II: “If I Loved You” (from Carousel)Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II: “Soliloquy” (from Carousel)INTERMISSIONBenny Andersson, Tim Rice & Björn Ulvaeus: “Anthem” (from Chess)Mitch Leigh & Joe Darion: “The Impossible Dream (The Quest)” (from Man of LaMancha)Billy Joel: “And So It Goes”Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boublil: “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” (from LesMisérables)Marc Blitzstein: “Emily” (from The Airborne Symphony)Peter Maxwell Davies: “Farewell to Stromness”Stephen Schwartz: “Proud Lady” (from The Baker’s Wife)Ron Miller: “For Once in My Life”Stephen Sondheim: “Johanna” (from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)Stephen Sondheim: “Being Alive” (from Company)