Interviewing Don Giovanni’s women

Posted on May 13, 2026 by barczablog

On May 22nd the new Benevolence Opera Project, who present opera both as entertainment and as a platform for social engagement collaborate with Redwood Theatre to present Don Giovanni in a benefit supporting Redwood Women’s Shelter.

I asked Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna, Mary Ferrari /Donna Elvira, and Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina to reflect on the changing ways we see Mozart’s famous 18th century opera about the famous seducer and its women.

Barczablog: Are we as a society making progress since Mozart’s time?    

Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: Yes, but in a ‘two steps forward, three steps back’ kinda way. I hate to say it but I regularly come across people who just don’t understand the Me Too movement at all. I have listened to men from all walks of life talk about how the Me Too movement is a threat to them. They often say that they ‘can’t talk to women without being accused of something’.  As much as they don’t deserve my patience, I try my best to listen to these people and hopefully find away to help them understand. My years working in a hospital gave me this skill. I have gotten through to some, but just like ‘two steps forward/three steps back’ fashion, they tell me ‘you’re one of the good ones. (Major face palm)

Barczablog: How is the story different in 2026 than 1783  (or whatever date it premiered) There are differences for the three women: Elvira vs Anna vs Zerlina, class & marriage 

Mary Ferrari /Donna Elvira: Performing these works in 2026, especially for Redwood Women’s Shelter, changes the way we experience them. In Mozart’s time, women often had very little social or legal power, and seduction could easily become manipulation or coercion. Today, we speak far more openly about abuse, consent, and power imbalance, so audiences naturally hear these stories differently. Society has certainly made progress, yet many women are still escaping controlling or abusive relationships, which is why this performance remains painfully relevant today.

Soprano Mary Ferrari (Donna Elvira)

The three women in Don Giovanni experience oppression in very different ways depending on class and social position. Donna Anna has status and protection, Donna Elvira carries emotional vulnerability and obsession, while Zerlina is especially exposed because she is young and lower class. Those differences still exist in modern society, even if they appear in different forms.

Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: This opera will continue to be produced because it will always remain relevant. Let me tell you a short story of Don Giovanni, but maybe instead of calling it Don Giovanni, let’s call it Harvey Weinstein, or Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs..or R Kelly. You don’t really need to know much more about Don G as a character with those comparisons. We have Donna Anna, but let’s call her Amber Heard instead. We have Don Elvira, but she’ll be played by Kim Kardashian, and Zerlina will be played by Rihanna. That’s Don Giovanni in a nut shell. Amber, Kim and Rihanna all had very public Don Giovanni’s in their lives. 

Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina: Thankfully in 2026 the conversation is a lot more open about assault than it was in the 1700’s. It is unfortunate though that these issues persist (would be nice if Don Giovanni was no longer a relevant story). Thankfully we have shelters to help women in these situations but the eventual goal is of course to lessen/eliminate this kind of behaviour in how we bring up the next generation.

Soprano Kathryn Rose Johnston (Zerlina)

I think the main difference is how it is viewed by audience. Things that were jokes back then, we now know are serious issues and treat them as such. The conversation is alive instead of taboo. Progress has been made, and with luck this production will get us a tiny step closer to getting our message across.

Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: I am grateful that we have laws to protect victims of sexual assault, but everyone has heard a story about victims being screwed over by the justice system. Sexual assault cases remain to be some of the most difficult in the court of law. Media outlets will mention ‘holes in the story’ making any person who has to recount a traumatic event scared to do so. 

At the end of the day, I still know people who continue to have Me Too stories. I have a Me Too story. What I have to say generally about this; the patriarchy helps very few. Sexual assault can happen to anyone, regardless of who you are. We need to encourage everyone to speak out when they have been wronged because silence only helps the oppressor. 

Barczablog: Can this be funny? how did the comedy work in 18th century.
Must Don Giovanni die, both in the original (18th century social mores) and today? 

Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: I think it is necessary for Don Giovanni to die…or to get thrown in jail. Otherwise we just watched this guy terrorize three women for two hours with no consequences! If I wanted to do that I could just listen to my friends tell me about their unfortunate tinder dates. 

Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina: This brings up the questions of the death penalty upon which I will not comment. All I’ll say is that the world is a better place without people like the Don.

Mary Ferrari /Donna Elvira: The comedy also functions differently today than it did in the 18th century. Audiences at the time were often more accepting of certain behaviors from powerful men, whereas modern audiences examine those behaviors much more critically. Today, the humor only truly works when we also recognize the darkness and cruelty beneath it.

Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna:  I believe Donna Anna’s assault was a result of Don Giovanni’s thrill seeking behaviour of wanting to knock a woman of high standing down. My heart breaks for Anna. She experiences two traumas in one day, and then people have the audacity to describe her character as crazy! Her music is definitely my favorite but it’s also the most violating to witness. In the recit before Or sai chi l’onore, Anna recounts what happened the night she was assaulted, followed by her father’s murder. This particular recit makes me question if this opera can actually be presented as a comedy anymore because it is the farthest thing from funny. 

Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina: I have to assume Elvira’s interjections were meant to be comedic (the Woman waiting for the man to call her back trope). I see now the struggle of her love vs. Her want to protect others in her position. Context can sometimes negate humour as there are moments we now feel a little guilty laughing at (the Catalogue Aria springs to mind). The main thing we gain from their class differences are the similarities in the experiences of people in different social classes; we are all human.

Barczablog: Compare the music in the three roles. Who has the prettiest tunes, who did Mozart want us to love?  How do you feel about the music Mozart gave each of you?

Mary Ferrari /Donna Elvira: Musically, Mozart gave each woman extraordinary depth and individuality. Elvira’s music is passionate and conflicted, Anna’s is noble and dramatic, and Zerlina’s is warm, charming, and deeply human. Mozart clearly loved all three women musically and gave each of them emotional truth and dignity.

Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina: I feel Zerlina has more to her than meets the eye (or ear). While much of her music is simple, she darts around to different harmonies in ensemble pieces, and even takes the lead in spots of the Act one finale after being assaulted. She is strong and despite being a peasant, knows that she deserves to be treated with dignity. Her music is the brightness of the opera.

Mary Ferrari /Donna Elvira: At the same time, Mozart and Da Ponte’s three operas such as The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte also reflect the limitations of their society. In these works, women are often manipulated, tested, abandoned, or trapped within systems controlled by men. Even when the women are strong, social power usually still belongs to the men. However, I do not believe Mozart mocked women or treated them lightly. Musically, he gave women some of the most beautiful, emotionally truthful music ever written. That is why modern audiences continue to connect so deeply with these operas today. We are not simply watching an 18th century story; we are also confronting issues of power, gender, desire, and abuse that still exist in modern society.

Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina: The thing I find most fascinating (as a recit loving gal) is the division of secco and accompanied recit in each character and how it represents each women’s class. Donna Anna has mostly accompanied recit being higher class and Zerlina only secco (speech like) as she is the lowest class. Elvira gets a bit of both. Their music is indicative of the different archetypes represented in each of the three women and highlights how women of all classes and personalities can be victimized by assault.

Barczablog: Who gets the worst treatment by the Don? 

Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: Definitely Donna Elvira in the second act. You pity her for still loving him, then you have to suffer the second hand embarrassment when he mocks and taunts her while he eats his dinner. It’s the hardest to watch in my opinion. 

Mary Ferrari /Donna Elvira: Don Giovanni portrays a remorseless, power driven abuser whose charm and authority are used to manipulate, control, and exploit those around him.

Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina: I can’t place a value on how he affects each of them as they all have valid complaints, but I think killing Donna Anna’s father adds insult to injury.

Baritone Alexander Hajek plays Don Giovanni

Barczablog: What Mozart roles have you sung or are preparing to sing after this.
And how do you feel about the way women were treated by Mozart (or by librettist Da Ponte in his 3 operas).

Mary Ferrari /Donna Elvira: I have learned the role of Queen of the Night from The Magic Flute, and I hope to perform it in the future. For me, the role is far more than just dramatic high notes. She is a woman expressing power, rage, pain, and desperation at the highest emotional level.

Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: I have sung a few Mozart roles; Zerlina, Fiordiligi, Cecilio, Queen of the Night, and I am currently looking at Konstanze and Countess. As for how Mozart portrays women, that’s a complicated question. I actually like how Mozart portrays women, however, I think centuries of patriarchal institutions/directors/teachers have made light of the struggles of women. That’s probably how Don Giovanni morphed into a comedy. I can spar all day about Cosi’ ending but that requires a beer. 

Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina: Besides Zerlina, I have sung Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Servilia (La clemenza di Tito), Ilia (Idomeneo) and Bastienne (Bastien und Bastienne).

    Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: What I love about Mozart’s operas are that he never does anything for no reason. Now what the ‘reason’ is, will be up for debate til the end of time. I can only drone on with my take..! 

    Soprano Holly Chaplin (Donna Anna)

      Donna Elvira and Donna Anna are both part of higher society, per the use of “Donna” YET it seems to me like Elvira is somehow lower than Anna. I think Elvira is meant to be older, and from an Andrew Tate perspective, has lost some of her value. With Don G being a thrill seeker, it makes sense that he would be bored of his actual wife. Maybe she is chasing him around to ensure that she gets his pension from the army when he inevitably succumbs to his risky behaviour? Elvira also has the most explosive anger toward the Don, but then she gets very weepy in the act 2 sextet…maybe pregnancy hormones? 

      Kathryn Rose Johnston /Zerlina: I think (and hope) that Mozart was a feminist. Many of his works were ahead of their time in the way they dealt with class struggles and gender-roles. The very fact that he chose to set stories that pushed the boundaries of what people in his time deemed acceptable feels like good ally-ship. I have always felt valued whenever I have been lucky enough to be a woman in a Mozart piece.

      Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: I think Zerlina being low class and young was meant to show how regular, everyday women were accustomed to the little egos of men. She sings Batti Batti to her husband Masetto. Let me paraphrase this translation; Hit me, my Masetto. Pull my hair, carve out my eyes and I’ll kiss you afterwards…it is possible that she’s calling his bluff because she finishes the aria with the text ‘non hai core’(have no heart/you don’t have the heart to) It’s possible that Zerlina and Masetto are in a very toxic relationship that includes gaslighting and infidelity, or that she’s stuck in an abusive relationship and saw Don Giovanni as a way out. I guess the director ultimately gets to decide! 

      Mary Ferrari /Donna Elvira: Mozart did not write women as decorative characters; he gave them psychological complexity and extraordinary emotional intensity. In many of his operas, the women carry some of the most honest and deeply human moments in the music.

      Holly Chaplin /Donna Anna: This opera is basically an essay on how to make a character unlikable. The opera starts with the very fresh aftermath of him assaulting Donna Anna, and then kills her father. You can ask ‘well maybe he went through something to act the way he does’…then we meet Donna Elvira, showing his pattern of garbage behaviour. Then we get to see him in action when he starts after Zerlina. This man is trash. The end. 

      *******

      Benevolence Opera Project & Redwood Theatre Present Don Giovanni A One-Night-Only Opera Event Supporting the Redwood Women’s Shelter, Toronto, on Friday, May 22 at 8:00 PM at the Redwood Theatre, 1300 Gerrard St East.

      This special one-night-only performance features Canadian Baritone Alexander Hajek in the titular role of Mozart’s electrifying masterpiece of seduction, power, and consequence, on Friday, May 22 at 8:00 PM at the Redwood Theatre. Featuring some of Canada’s finest operatic talent, this intimate production invites audiences into a thrilling “chess match” of wit, desire, and morality—brought vividly to life in the vibrant Redwood Theatre space.

      A pre-performance talk will be given at 7:15 PM by Opera Canada’s Michael Jones, offering insight into the opera’s enduring legacy and themes.

      Cast & Creative Team:
      Don Giovanni — Alexander Hajek
      Leporello — Luke Noftall
      Masetto — James Coole-Stevenson
      Commendatore — Andrew Tees
      Donna Anna — Holly Chaplin
      Don Ottavio — Cameron Mazzei
      Donna Elvira — Mary Ferrari
      Zerlina — Kathryn Rose Johnston
      Musical Director & Pianist — Brahm Goldhamer
      Narrator & Producer — Ryan Hofman

      Event Details:
      Date: Friday, May 22
      Time: 8:00 PM (Pre-talk at 7:15 PM)
      Location: Redwood Theatre, 1300 Gerrard St E., Toronto

      Tickets start at $50 and are available at:
      https://www.theredwoodtheatre.com/event-details/don-giovanni

      Posted in Interviews, Opera, Press Releases and Announcements | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      Witnessing the birth of romanticism with young Werther

      Posted on May 10, 2026 by barczablog

      Excuse me as I gush. I love the new Canadian Opera Company production of Werther, featuring some of the best singing we’ve heard in years. I want people to come see this opera, so that the COC decides to do more Massenet. Manon sometime soon? Oh well, one can dream.

      I came Saturday night with Ann Cooper Gay, a former artistic director of the Canadian Children’s Opera Company and a soprano with the COC before that.

      Ann Cooper Gay & moi (photo by George aka Ann’s husband, the reason I’m giggling)

      It felt absolutely perfect to be sitting beside her, given how this opera frames its action with children’s voices, sung by members of the company she once led. It is in my opinion the best such chorus in any opera I could identify. Yes I love the parody of militarism at the beginning of Carmen. This one is better because it’s functional to soften the story, framing the opera at the beginning and end. Even knowing it’s coming I get all teary-eyed hearing the angelic voices sing of Christmas as Werther & Charlotte discuss the meaning of life. The bravissimos erupting from the Saturday audience at the end suggest that maybe I am not the only one who turns to crème brûlée at Massenet’s soft landing on the hero’s death.

      There was a lot of drama even before the show, on a night when the Don Valley Parkway was closed on a busy weekend. And to add to the suspense, the COC have added extra security coming into the Four Seasons Centre. It seems apt to submit to the usual procedures for boarding an airplane, considering that we hope to be transported somewhere by the magic of opera.

      The stoic Toronto crowd wouldn’t let that stop us. From a chat in the lobby with Kenneth Baker, it would seem that this time we got through the screening process quicker than his previous experience last week. Chances are staff will get better at this as they get accustomed to the procedures (and maybe ditto for the audience). All I know is, I was primed for a magical experience, and the COC delivered.

      Oh yes, the opera. I think Jules Massenet is under-rated, perhaps still to be properly discovered. I recall he was a favourite of Stuart Hamilton, whose Opera in Concert presented sixteen Massenet productions (some operas repeated), as you can see on their database. I believe the culture of opera in French has a tradition of responding to the text going back to Lully, Charpentier and Rameau, but especially in the century of Berlioz, Gounod, Bizet, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc: and of course Massenet. Italian might be a more fluid language to sing, but the composers in French kept their musical forms in check to allow space for literary ambition to have their moments in a way no other culture would do. If we think of the possibilities of opera as a medium where text is illuminated by music, the romantic composers are for me the apex in the 80 years between 1850 and 1930. The ideal is often something we contemplate, dreaming of the possibilities we encounter in our imagination via audio recordings. For me this one exceeded my expectations and showed me how powerful the medium can be.

      My headline is meant to suggest what I experienced in the theatre, taken up in the passions of young Werther: a seminal figure if there ever was one. We could go off on a tangent with the novels influenced by Goethe, whose Werther & Faust are like the skeletons in the closet of romanticism. I don’t think you get Byron or Wagner let alone all varieties of Bildungsroman, the heroes of Dickens or JD Salinger without Goethe. Yes yes i am making sweeping generalizations, as I write after midnight, still entranced by the COC’s production.

      But think for a moment, about the real magic of an adaptation going from a private literary medium like poetry or prose, into a public performed medium such as theatre or opera. When we read of Werther’s sorrows we have a different experience than sitting with hundreds of others listening to a tenor embodying pure sensibility, whether telling us of the beauty of nature, his admiration for a woman, or his despair. It’s one thing to read about an emotion described, something tremendous & magical to give us the visceral experience of that emotion as sometimes happens in music.

      Many have tried to bridge that gap, between the page and the stage. I have watched & listened to Berlioz and Gounod try to show us a sensitive man tell us of the beauty of nature, but they pale beside what Massenet accomplishes in the first act of Werther. I think of Massenet occupying the middle ground between complex artistic ambitions (thinking of Berlioz or Debussy), but not so blatant as a crowd-pleaser (an accusation one might level at Gounod). The music is simplicity itself, first in the orchestral introduction, and then completed by the soaring tenor line when Werther tells us what he’s feeling, and you feel it too. I’ve heard so many different approaches to this, some gentle like Cesare Valetti, some powerful like Jonas Kaufmann. When the composer has done it right, there’s space for different interpretations and this is especially true of this opera. I was on the verge of tears (and am a sucker for this nature-sensibility music before anyone comes onstage, which is among my favourite compositions by anyone anywhere), anticipating Russell Thomas. We’ve heard the voice before, it’s heroic, wonderfully precise as far as intonation. He soared fearlessly over the orchestra from the beginning. While he would sing more softly later, especially in his final scene, he was close to perfect in this huge role, his top notes calling to us eloquently. His technique seems phenomenally good, in the confidence he gave me every time he ascended, the certainty I always had in his ability to hit the high notes. I understand that there is a trade-off, when his approach to a French vowel might be to pronounce it a bit differently in order to enable him to sing high notes so reliably; if the alternative is clearer French but sung less securely, I am happy to accept that trade.

      Charlotte (Victoria Karkacheva) & Werther (Russell Thomas; photo: Michael Cooper)

      There’s even a Mother’s Day tie-in, as Charlotte tells us of her deceased mother. I can relate. Charlotte lost her mom three years ago, I think she said. Mine passed about a year and a half ago. For me this was the highlight in the performance by Victoria Karkacheva, a moment of sensitivity that was relatable. That’s what Massenet does, distilling emotion & experience into simple & direct musical expression.

      This was among the best sung shows I have ever encountered from the COC. Gordon Bintner and Simone Osborne were truly note-perfect as Albert and Sophie.

      Werther (Russell Thomas) and Albert (Gordon Bintner; photo: Michael Cooper)

      Gordon’s Albert is a wonderfully sympathetic creation, making Charlotte’s marriage much more than just the outcome of a promise made to her mother to marry this man, but a believable action under the circumstances. Simone’s Sophie offers an important contrast to the obsessive principals, giving us a glimpse of normalcy as a backdrop to the action. Her expressions of joy help to balance the darkness coming from Werther & Charlotte.

      Ditto for the three men we meet in the first and second act. Robert Pomakov (Le Bailli) is a gruff but lovable choir-master with the children, a father-figure without elaboration.

      Alain Coulombe (Johann) and Michael Colvin (Schmidt; photo: Michael Cooper)

      Michael Colvin (Schmidt) and Alain Coulombe (Johann), express their admiration for Bacchus & beverages, again supplying important bouyancy to the opera.

      Le Bailli (Robert Pomakov), Käthchen (Emma Pennell) & Brühlmann (Ben Wallace; photo: Michael Cooper).

      And there’s also the pair of Emma Pennell & Ben Wallace giving us reason to smile, as Käthchen & Brühlmann.

      This is a co-production with Opéra de Montréal and Vancouver Opera directed by Alain Gauthier. I am grateful that the period is consistent with the novel (18th century) rather than modernized, given the conservative mores, as with Charlotte’s obedience to her mother’s wishes or the frequent references to Christianity in the opera.

      The COC Orchestra led by Johannes Debus sounded superb, although (as I have hinted) I was dying to hear Massenet and was more than ready to be thrilled by what I heard and saw. Werther continues with five performances remaining, May 13, 15, 17, 19 & 23.

      Posted in Books & Literature, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

      Symbolist cicadas probing underneath

      Posted on May 8, 2026 by barczablog

      If you think the headline is cryptic, you should see the play.

      I saw the World Premiere of cicadas, a new work that I understand as an elaboration upon a radio play, a Tarragon Theatre and NAC English Theatre Co-Production in association with fu-GEN Asian Theatre Company, directed by Nina Lee Aquino. Radio drama never lets us see any of the players or the events of the plot. Listeners must use their imagination, as we do when someone tells us a story. Such was our experience with cicadas even though we had a set and actors before us.

      David Yee and Chris Thornborrow are both listed as “creator”. I recall David as a playwright from his carried away on the crest of a wave from over ten years ago. I encountered Chris as a Toy Piano composer (concert and CD in 2017), from Bicycle Opera Project’s A Little Rain Must Fall (aha an opera with a libretto by David from 2014), and Hook Up a musical from 2019. Suffice it to say that David and Chris have worked together before, and seem to have an excellent rapport when it comes to collaboration.

      This is from the blurb on Tarragon Theatre’s website:
      In 2032, while on the hunt for a new home in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods, Trim and Janie are drawn to a very peculiar house. Ryan Hollyman plays Trim, Monica Dottor plays Janie. Ellora Patnaik plays Adeline and others.

      Trinity Bellwoods is near the original location of Trinity College, founded by John Strachan and the elite establishment of Upper Canada who controlled life in the city 200 years ago. The location is some of the most important real estate in the country.

      Real estate agent (Ellora Patnaik) meets Trim (Ryan Hollyman) and Janie (Monica Dottor; photo: Jae Yang)

      I want to invoke theatre history for a moment. Maeterlinck’s early plays such as The Blind or The Intruder are symbolist, a style briefly in vogue although when seen from our time are so melodramatic & obvious as to hit you over the head with the images. Maeterlinck is somewhat subtler in Pelléas et Mélisande, a play Debussy turned into his only opera recently staged by Opera Atelier. Bluebeard’s Castle, playing currently as part of a double bill at the Canadian Opera Company is also symbolist.

      Symbols don’t make a play symbolist. A key quality of a symbolist dramaturgy is deliberate ambiguity, evading easy interpretation, to invoke the inexpressible, even suggesting a world that cannot be understood. That is exactly what I felt at the end of cicadas, contemplating the mysteries of our world.

      That the audience for the opening of cicadas was so ready to laugh at the most extreme moments, as though we were watching a horror movie unfolding, is consistent with a style that flirts with melodrama. A more typical group without the festive air of an opening night might be more susceptible to the scariest moments of the story. We straddled the boundary between scary & silly, especially after intermission when we descended into something verging on social satire, before plunging deeper into the realms of mystery and the inexplicable. I like that effect, the humour functioning to remove our defences. I dislike it when a critic gives away a story by telling you too much, so I won’t betray the ending, except to say it became even more symbolist.

      The philosophical probing in cicadas serves to lead one away from the external focus as we find in real estate listings and realist theatre, towards feelings, essences & hidden meanings. Sometimes that’s accomplished through a de facto report of the inexplicable condition of the house but at other times indirectly, musically.

      Home inspector (Ellora Patnaik) meeting Trim (Ryan Hollyman; photo: Jae Yang)

      We were on an interface between science and sensibility, conversations in the present and past, the time-frame sometimes ambiguous, the actions far beyond what you see except in sci-fi or fantasy. Music was a key part of the dramaturgy, taking us away from logic & linearity into a place that was more lyrical and poetic, somewhat subjective, imagined, internal. While I could show you photos of some of the stranger images, I worry that they can’t capture what you feel in the context of music and unfolding drama; so I have chosen not to attempt to deconstruct what was for me a magical experience.

      This was the most literal sort of orchestra pit I have yet encountered, four musicians behind a door to the scary basement of the house in Trinity Bellwoods. The answers that lurk in the dark under the house are written in Chris’s music or in strange writing upon the wall.

      Percussionist Nathan Petitpas (photo: Jae Yang)

      In the washroom at intermission a fellow traveller said he wished he’d had some mushrooms. He mentioned the atmospheric music. We are in a very stylized world, the images and music taking us far from simple realism into something much richer.

      At times the action is as scary as something you’d find in Hitchcock. I think Hitchcock was influenced by symbolists, especially in a film such as Vertigo or North by Northwest, the latter a film full of humorous touches. While the Tarragon audience was often howling with nervous laughter except in the last part, the principals were completely deadpan throughout.

      I like the fact that I didn’t see where we were going, that the outcome of the play surprised me. And I liked it a lot. I was moved, and the day after can’t stop thinking about what I’ve seen and heard.

      The world premiere production of cicadas will run at Tarragon Theatre until at least May 24th. I recommend that you see it.

      Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      Ernesto Ramirez’s reflections on singing, preparing for his upcoming concert: an interview with a great singer

      Posted on May 2, 2026 by barczablog

      I am a big fan of Ernesto Ramirez and his beautiful tenor voice. I’ve seen him sing several times. The voice has a memorable sound, indeed the ideal colour for the Italian bel canto repertoire.

      He is a singer of intelligence & sensitivity. I love the colour of his voice!

      On May 17th Ernesto will join Holly Chaplin (another singer I admire) for Hello Goodbye, a concert of romantic duets.

      To find out more about him and the concert I asked him some questions.

      *******

      Barczablog: Are you more like your father or mother?
      I carry both of them in different ways. From my father, I inherited discipline and a strong sense of responsibility—he has been the source of my strength in difficult moments, but also an example of maintaining joy even when life is not easy. From my mother, I got emotional intensity and intuition, which are essential for what I do on stage. My life has been about learning how to balance those two forces: control and expression.

      BB: What is the best or worst thing about what you do?
      The best thing is the ability to connect deeply with others through music. It is a universal language—when it truly communicates, words are not necessary. There are moments on stage where everything aligns—the voice, the orchestra, the audience—and it feels timeless, almost like stepping into another era of human experience.

      The worst part is the instability. Financial pressure, constant self-promotion, and the emotional toll of the industry can distract from the art itself. Many careers burn out because survival becomes the priority, and the artist gets lost in the process.

      BB: Who do you like to listen to or watch?
      My listening is very broad. I study great operatic voices, but I also listen to jazz, folk, and traditional music. Freedom of expression is what inspires me most.

      Outside of music, I enjoy documentaries and interviews. I’m interested in how people think and how they build their lives.

      BB: What ability or skill do you wish you had, that you don’t have?
      I wish I had a stronger instinct for delegation. As artists building our own projects, we tend to carry everything ourselves. I’m learning to trust my colleagues more—allowing them to contribute creatively and share responsibility. That process has been very rewarding.

      BB: When you’re just relaxing and not working, what is your favourite thing to do?
      Spending time with my daughters is central to everything. Something changed in me the moment I held them for the first time—that taught me more about connection than anything else.

      Ernesto the playful dad

      Beyond that, I value silence. Walking, reflecting, reading—stepping away from noise and resetting mentally. In today’s world, that feels essential. but also talk with my friends when possible!

      BB: What was your first experience of music?
      Music was always present growing up. It wasn’t something formal—it was something lived. Singing came before I understood what training was. That natural connection is something I still try to protect.

      After traveling and experiencing different cultures, I’ve realized that we are not so different. Music reveals that. It connects, heals, and reminds us that we share the same human need to express.

      BB: Who is your favourite singer?
      It’s difficult to choose one, but Luciano Pavarotti had a profound impact on me. Also Plácido Domingo, especially because of his connection with Mexico—I remember seeing him on television as a child, singing in a puppet show, and that stayed with me.

      What I admire most about Pavarotti is his ability to combine technical mastery with emotional truth—without exaggeration. Everything was in the voice and the language . That is something I strive for every day.

      Tenor Ernesto Ramirez

      BB: Were you always a tenor?
      No. Like many singers, my voice evolved. It took time and the right guidance to settle into the tenor repertoire. That process teaches patience. Forcing the voice into the wrong category can cause long-term damage.

      It also requires self-awareness—understanding your strengths, your limitations, and being open to growth beyond what the system expects.

      BB: What instruments do you play?
      My father introduced me to piano, and like many kids I learned some guitar. But the instrument that truly captured me was the clarinet. Hearing my grandfather and uncle play at at the highest level, and later discovering the Brahms sonata, had a deep impact on me.

      I trained as a clarinetist and completed university studies in it. Today, piano remains an essential tool for learning repertoire and understanding music, though I mostly play it for personal enjoyment.

      BB: On May 17th you and Holly Chaplin sing a concert together—what are you singing?
      The program is centered around bel canto repertoire. Holly introduced the idea, and her concept—Hello and Goodbye—sparked the narrative direction first.

      Soprano Holly Chaplin

      The selections explore themes of love, meeting, and parting, combining lyrical intimacy with more dramatic moments. It’s a story within stories, designed to be accessible while still offering depth for experienced listeners.

      BB: What was the thinking behind the program?
      Balance and communication. A concert should take the audience on a journey, not just loud singing with top notes. We wanted something simple but meaningful—bringing together humour, love, tragedy, and ultimately hope.

      BB: Between you and Holly, whose input designed the program?
      It started collaboratively, and then we divided roles to move efficiently. There’s always dialogue—what works vocally, what creates contrast, what tells the story clearly. It’s built on mutual respect.

      BB: What is your favourite piece to sing as an encore?
      It depends on the audience, but something direct and emotionally immediate works best. For me, returning to my native language allows a deeper level of expression and connection.

      BB: Have you ever felt a challenge reconciling the business side with the art of music?
      Constantly. The business side—agents, contracts, funding, marketing—is necessary, but it can easily overshadow the art. The challenge is to build systems that support the work without compromising integrity.

      BB: What can classical music learn from popular musicians?
      Clarity and direct engagement. Popular artists communicate without barriers. Classical music sometimes hides behind tradition instead of inviting people in.

      We also need to remember that classical music was once the music of the people. It should still challenge us, elevate us, and refine how we think—not become inaccessible.

      BB: Who are your favourite artists you’ve worked with?
      I’ve worked with many remarkable musicians across genres—from collaborations connected to the pianist that worked with Prince, to experiences with members of Tower of Power. and other bands.

      In opera, working with artists like Sondra Radvanovsky, Tracy Dahl and Erika Grimaldi has been deeply inspiring. What stands out most is integrity—artists who are prepared, collaborative, and committed to the work.

      BB: Tenors are often the romantic lead… how do you feel about that stereotype?
      It’s part of tradition, but it’s limiting. The tenor voice can express far more—conflict, vulnerability, darkness.

      That said, composers often use the tenor voice for romance because of its emotional colour—it can move people in a very direct way.

      BB: What aria best showcases your voice?
      It depends on where the voice is at a given moment. For me, repertoire that combines lyricism with dramatic weight works best. 

      More importantly, it’s not just about the aria—it’s about the context. Understanding what happens before the aria is essential to singing it truthfully. Perhaps some arias are better suited  for the color of the voice than others. But to express would be the main goal!

      BB: If you could tell institutions how to train future artists, what would you change?
      Less emphasis on conformity, more on individuality. Artists need technical training, but also the ability to think independently and develop at their own pace.

      The voice takes time. Growth doesn’t follow deadlines or age limits. Still they are doing a fantastic job to train the new generations to what the new era needs.

      BB: What would you say to Toronto audiences about North American artists?
      The level of artistry here is extremely high. Supporting local artists is not about lowering standards—it’s about recognizing excellence that already exists.

      BB: What is your favourite role? Any role you wish you could sing?
      I am a believer that a singer’s relationship with repertoire evolves over time. What matters is approaching each role at the right moment, I love music and each time I am involved in a project it becomes the favorite of the moment.

      Many roles I once dreamed of—like Pinkerton or Don José—became realities through discipline and patience. That taught me to turn dreams into structured goals.

      BB: What are your favourite melodies to sing?
      Mexican melodies, especially those that feel natural and inevitable—where the emotion lives inside the line. But that quality exists in all great music.

      BB: What influences / teachers were most influential on your development?
      Many mentors shaped me, but what they shared was a commitment to truth.

      One I will name is Bruno Pola—he planted the seed that led me into opera. Good teaching goes beyond technique; it helps you understand who you are and how to communicate that honestly. Any teacher that taught me something is and will be a treasure in my life forever.

      *******

      That voice! I want to hear more of Ernesto’s beautiful tenor.

      I’m looking forward to Hello Goodbye, a concert featuring romantic duets from bel canto opera is coming up on Sunday May 17th at 3:00 pm at Beach United Church, 140 Wineva Ave. Ernesto & Holly will be joined by Narmina Efendiyeva on the piano and Ryan Hofman as narrator.

      Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      Best Toronto Symphony concert of the season

      Posted on May 1, 2026 by barczablog

      So far so good.

      I knew I was going to like this concert because they were playing pieces I liked. I did not expect this to be the best concert of the season. As we go into the month of May the orchestra is hitting its stride.

      Serendipity leads me to share a sentence from a colleague, namely Erin Guinup who wrote a piece for the Seattle Times titled “What an Overwhelmed Society Needs from the Arts.” Amazing that the Toronto Symphony, working with CAMH (Centre for Addiction & Mental Health), should have premiered a work tonight that seems to speak to this subject. Erin spoke of “organizations willing to ask not just “how do we fill seats” but “what does an overwhelmed person actually need tonight, and how do we deliver it.“

      I feel so proud that here in Toronto we heard a bit of an answer to Erin’s question, and maybe that’s more than serendipity. My heart was full watching and listening to the performance, the World Première/Art of Healing Program Commission in Partnership with CAMH from Cris Derksen, a piece titled “STILL HERE” created in consultation with members of the TSO and patients at CAMH, offering their input to Cris.

      Mark Williams, CEO of the TSO, and Lori Sidorchuk from CAMH came out to introduce Cris’s piece, explaining its genesis.

      Lori Spadorcia, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Partnerships & Chief Strategy Officer at CAMH with TSO’s CEO Mark Williams

      Here’s Cris’s program note, which isn’t terribly long.

      STILL HERE is a piece created in partnership with the TSO x CAMH Art of Healing project. It is a piece about humanity, living in cities, being surrounded and feeling alone, finding the magic in the mundane, getting excited about getting somewhere, feeling the empathy of humanity, the rhythm of the streets, pausing the chaos to listen to the sounds of our urban birds cousins, remembering where we came from, and that stunning phenomenon of a sunset called the Torontohenge: where the setting sun aligns with the east-west streets of downtown Toronto to create a unifying beam of hope and light across the grid of the city streets.

      I think of the fifteen-minute long piece as a tone poem. If we recall that Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote includes sounds of wind & imitations of animals, we’re in similar creative territory, except the landscape Cris is painting is downtown Toronto, with birds, sirens, indigenous voices and the beat of urban life. This beautiful piece offers a peaceful answer to the questions we have, sometimes pulsing with rhythm, sometimes gently melodic & tonal, truly a piece about humanity.

      The premiere was conducted with the firm leadership of Elim Chan.

      Conductor Elim Chan acknowledges composer Cris Derksen after the premiere of STILL HERE

      I knew I liked Elim from her handling of the national anthem. I always sing it in French because to be honest I don’t know the English words anymore, because they’ve been changed so many times. Elim made the piece quite beautiful, building to a climax in the last part of the song.

      In addition to the anthem & STILL HERE there were also a couple of huge works on the program, namely Rachmaninoff’s 3rd piano concerto and Shostakovich’s 9th symphony.

      Pianist Lukáš Vondráček (photo: Irene Kim)

      The concerto, often identified as the most difficult piano concerto in the repertoire was played by pianist Lukáš Vondráček before intermission, in a performance that I have to recommend to anyone who admires piano music, who loves Rachmaninoff, or who might simply want to be shown something.

      Elim Chan conducts pianist Lukáš Vondráček & members of the Toronto Symphony (photo Jae Yang/Courtesy of the TSO)

      Do yourself a favour and go to Roy Thomson Hall Friday night for the repeat of this program.

      Other performers may clutter the sound with the pedal, but this was the cleanest version I ever heard, every note distinct and clear. Indeed at times I could him putting the pedal down, articulating the music with his rapid use of the pedal.

      And at times we were going as fast or faster than any version I ever heard. Elim kept the orchestra out of the way, the piano soaring easily for the first two movements, the first movement especially subtle. It was only at the beginning of the finale that we heard a more powerful sound from the orchestra, and Lukáš matched them, in a volcanic eruption of sound & passion. I’ve heard this concerto a few times, and this was a unique reading.

      For his encore I believe we heard a Chopin nocturne in C-sharp minor, thoughtfully played.

      After intermission came first Cris Derksen’s tone poem, then Shostakovich’s 9th symphony. In a concert that seemed to go from highlight to highlight, from a brilliant piano concerto to a beautiful premiere, it was startling to discover that the orchestra had something in reserve, this stunning reading of a piece of music I think of as weird & wacky, full of irony & unexpected twists & turns. There are passages that are laugh out loud funny, and no this isn’t me being a nerdy academic. When I met some old friends in the lobby afterwards, we talked about how much fun we had at this concert, especially with the amazing symphony to finish. I’d be hard pressed to identify the most remarkable solo, between piccolo, bassoon, flute, the trombone section aided by the tuba, Jonathan Crow playing something decidedly funky as comical concertmaster, and the playful percussion.

      Elim Chan conducts the Toronto Symphony (photo Jae Yang/Courtesy of the TSO)

      Elim has a wonderfully clear beat. While she’s diminutive especially when she stands beside Jonathan, her command of the baton is second to none: and the TSO responded. The chemistry I felt between the players and the leader was a joy to behold. I hope that Mark & the TSO team will bring her back again, she’s a remarkable conductor.

      The program is repeated Friday night at Roy Thomson Hall. See it if you can!

      Conductor Elim Chan

      Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      Tapestry Opera and Toronto Symphony Orchestra Announce Groundbreaking Masterclass for Emerging Star Conductors at Roy Thomson Hall

      Posted on April 30, 2026 by barczablog
      Monica Chen (Photo by Alan Cabral / TSO)

      TORONTO, ON – Continuing their long-standing relationship, Tapestry Opera and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) join forces for a masterclass on Saturday, May 16, 2026, dedicated to the next generation of women and non-binary conductors and music directors in Canada.

      This intensive program, hosted at the iconic Roy Thomson Hall with full orchestral forces, underscores the enduring partnership between these two pillars of the Canadian arts scene. By bringing together the TSO’s orchestral excellence and Tapestry’s innovative programming, the masterclass provides emerging conductors with a rare opportunity to refine their craft under the guidance of top-tier industry mentor Maestro Gustavo Gimeno.

      Monica Chen (Fellow): A collaborative leader whose insightful approach has garnered acclaim across North America.
      Eve Legault (Fellow): A conductor known for her precision and ability to bridge the gap between contemporary opera and classical symphonic works.
      Serena Reuten (Associate): A dynamic presence on the podium with a reputation for nuanced interpretations of complex scores.
      Despite women making up 59% of graduates in visual and performing arts programs, they remain starkly underrepresented in leadership roles. Among Canadian orchestras with budgets over $5 million, only 25% of titled positions are held by women, and a mere 10% serve as Music Directors.* The WML program was specifically designed to support advancement into leadership roles through high-level podium time and rigorous mentorship.

      A National Solution to a Global Challenge
      Now in its fourth public masterclass collaboration with the TSO, Tapestry Opera’s WML program has supported 11 conductors to date, providing them with the practical experience and visibility required to secure major appointments. The impact reaches organizations across Canada: during the 2025/2026 season alone, WML’s commitment to nationwide exposure will see its conductors travel over 31,000 km to work with partner organizations across Canada.

      “This program is about more than just training; it’s about driving real change on the podium,” says Jaime Martino, Executive Director of Tapestry Opera. “WML conductors are actively reshaping the Canadian arts landscape and inspiring audiences from coast to coast.”

      “Women in Musical Leadership is opening doors and helping to change the future of our art form,” says Mark Williams, Beck Family CEO of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. “We are proud to partner in a program that gives exceptional conductors meaningful time on the podium and behind-the-scenes with a great orchestra. That investment matters—not only for these artists, but for the future of musical leadership.”

      In a short video Q&A, Women in Musical Leadership (WML) alumna Naomi Woo reflects on her experience in the program and the impact it has had on her development as a conductor.
      Rigorous Professional Development The WML fellowship provides valuable hands-on experience. In the 2024/2025 season, full-time conductors received approximately 490 hours of on-the-job training, working alongside expert mentors to master diverse repertoire. This 4th public TSO masterclass serves as a culminating opportunity, allowing fellows to refine their craft under the guidance of conducting advisors such as Gustavo Gimeno and JoAnn Falletta.
       ABOUT WOMEN IN MUSICAL LEADERSHIP (WML) Led by Tapestry Opera in partnership with the TSO and over 20 organizations including Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, and Vancouver Opera, WML is a multi-year program that provides female and non-binary conductors with the mentorship and podium time necessary to advance their careers. For more information, visit tapestryopera.com/wml.

      ABOUT TAPESTRY OPERA       Founded in 1979, Tapestry Opera is an award-winning Toronto-based company dedicated to creating, developing and performing original, progressive opera. We are passionate about timely, resonant stories told in innovative settings and interpreted by extraordinary artists. We create space to unite diverse art forms, creators, and communities to develop powerful, boundary-breaking opera that reflects and changes the world. We believe in embedding our values in everything we do, on and offstage, and work to create an equitable, adaptable, and accountable culture for our time and communities.  Check out What’s On and join us for an upcoming production. Visittapestryopera.com

      ABOUT THE TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA For more than a century, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has played a fundamental role in shaping and celebrating Canadian culture. The TSO’s commitment to musical excellence and ability to spark connection remain as strong as ever. With a storied history of acclaimed concerts and recordings, Canadian and international tours, and impactful community partnerships, we are dedicated to engaging and enriching local and national communities through vibrant musical experiences. Music Director Gustavo Gimeno brings an expansive artistic vision, intellectual curiosity, and sense of adventure to programming the 93-musician orchestra that serves Toronto—one of the world’s most diverse cities. As a group of artists, teachers, and advocates who share the belief that music has the power to heal, inspire, and connect people from all walks of life, we engage audiences young and old through an array of community-access, health-and-well-being, and education initiatives including the TSO-affiliated Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra—a tuition-free training program dedicated to cultivating the next generation of Canadian artists. Symphony With Us at aconcert at Roy Thomson Hall, orexperience the TSO in your neighbourhood. Visit TSO.CA orNewsroom.TSO.CA.
       *******

      “Press releases and announcements” are presented verbatim without comment

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      The ambiguous virtuosity of La Maupin

      Posted on April 30, 2026 by barczablog

      La Maupin is the title of a new opera produced on film concerning a mythological person of ambiguous gender who may have existed. The historical figure is so interesting, you’d have to invent someone like this if she were not real. There’s a novel by Theophile Gautier using the historical figure, blurring the line between reality and fiction but okay let’s say she is real. Nowadays “real” is already a challenging concept.

      The first person narrator of the new opera seems to embrace and even celebrate the mystery in the telling of the tale, the possibilities hanging in the balance between then and now between female and male, between real & artificial. I suspect the way it’s coded means it will read differently depending on your background, thinking especially of your gender & sexuality.

      In some ways the film of La Maupin is a tour de force, directed by Lauren Halasz, featuring Camille Rogers (producer, singing the lead & having written the libretto including poetry of Aphra Behn) , composed by Colin McMahon, produced by Opera Q in residency with Tapestry Opera at the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre, filmed & edited by Stephen Bell of Coffeeshop Film & Creative.

      Yes that’s a mouthful to list, that didn’t even include the players in the string quartet + piano, the choreographer nor the dramaturg. I just wanted to call attention to the oxyoron of a one-person show that is actually a complex machine supported by a myriad of persons. We imagine a story-teller standing at a microphone vulnerably alone. For La Maupin we’re in the presence of something more complex, something subtle in its contradictions and questions.

      I love that oxymoron thing in a performance, indeed at one time I thought I was going to employ the word in the title for my dissertation (until dissuaded by a committee member), as I studied the ways Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande resists being operatic, a vehicle for virtuoso performance that resists the virtuosic. Maybe there’s something similar in play for La Maupin. I wonder, would the score work as a live performance in a theatre? Here we encounter it filmed, a medium that I find to be an automatic site of a kind of conflict, ambiguous by definition.

      Full disclosure: I embrace a comment from composer Domenick Argento, who spoke of operatic voices you hear in the same space as a kind of magic trick, skill that moves you in person in your viscera. When it’s on a screen whether from YouTube or the Met, I don’t know for certain what that really sounds like in person. I need to see and feel for sure, especially when I think I see a person lip-synching, pretending to sing to match a sound track, as I saw in La Maupin. Yes I saw the credit for the main personage onscreen, that they are the only person singing: but the separation of audio (singing) and video (movement including lips in synchronization) makes things more artificial for me, an alienating effect. We all saw Singin’ In the Rain, we know that the voice may or may not be the same person as the one we see pretending to sing. Think of me as a bit of an agnostic, as far as films of opera. If a live performance gives us the magic trick of visceral excitement from the live voice, getting a film of opera subverts that magic with a new layer of magic.

      To quote an ad from the 1980s, we may wonder is it live or is it Memorex? (or another artificial medium)

      And there are so many ways to show off one can sometimes forget what it is to be human. Life is a performance especially nowadays. Aspects of gender have always incorporated performative behaviours, costume & manners signalling powerfully.

      Watching the film I found myself bouncing back to Cyclops, a recent live musical I saw in Toronto, noticing similarities & differences.

      Both of them were one-person stories venturing into queer territory. Opera Q (who embrace queer and trans voices by creating inclusive, high-camp, and gender-bent performances) produced La Maupin. Cyclops was a modern musical sung in a rock or blues idiom with electronic pattern music noodling away under much of the action, a fascinating disparity between the ancient classic story being told with modern music. La Maupin employs a string quartet + piano, a calm regularity to underscore the adventures of the story segmented into a series of episodes, twice involving duels (one with swords one with guns) but never with a sense of mortality or terror, the calmest storytelling you could imagine because of the civilized underscoring. I think the choice of medium will always be a reflection of the artist’s home medium, that you write something in rock or in modernist string quartet because that feels familiar & right to you (and excuse me if that’s ridiculously obvious). But where Cyclops’ rock was edgy and troubled, La Maupin’s chamber score is actually very comforting, soothing. Have no fear straights, this is not anything to fear!

      I can’t decide. Is it better to tell a story with a voice reflecting the terror of the situation, or with the calmness distance provides? I did find myself thinking back to the swashbuckling tradition of music in film, meaning Korngold’s films and maybe John Williams if we allow that Indiana Jones is also a sort of swashbuckler using a whip rather than a sword. But that’s just it, my fantasy is far too unambiguous, in the same ways I spoke of with Debussy’s opera. We are in an oxymoronic realm, sitting on a fence, and therefore must tolerate the ambiguity both in the genders of the personages and in the musical idiom too.

      I see so many layers of skill, so many talents in the mix, but might wish for something rougher, recalling the messiness of Cyclops. I like the occasional wrong note or misstep as a reminder of humanity, especially in a medium such as opera that for me is best experienced live. A few days ago I wrote passionately about my experience of the Tristan high-def broadcast, but when I saw it again on a smaller screen the excitement had abated so much that I’m not going to the encore after all, wishing I could see it live in the Lincoln Centre theatre rather than packaged as it is for Cineplex viewing. Again, this is me and my particular background, one that reads this differently because of my age & my cultural associations.

      I want to properly cite the work of Camille Rogers, congenial and approachable and so very likeable. Credit too to Stephen Bell for capturing this fascinating meta-performance, a performance investigating and querying the performative.

      La Maupin continues to be available (click here) via Opera Q’s site.

      Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      History captured in Toronto Beach Chorale’s Carmina Burana

      Posted on April 28, 2026 by barczablog

      My daughter and I joined an overflowing crowd eager to hear Toronto Beach Chorale with Mississauga Chamber Singers and their guests in a jam-packed Kingston Road United Church.

      The short pieces in the first half of the concert with introductory remarks from Mervin Fick, conductor & Music Director of Toronto Beach Chorale & Mississauga Chamber Singers, served as explanation & preparation for the big piece in the second half, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

      Mervin Fick, Music Director of Toronto Beach Chorale

      Don’t mistake this for a dry history lesson. We heard different types of music both to instruct us and to delight us. These aural appetizers for Orff’s big composition from the 1930s prepared us for a work that is a curious mixture of old and new, simultaneously modern yet employing a medieval text. And it’s among the most popular works of the last hundred years.

      The concert featured not just the 39 members of Toronto Beach Chorale, but also the 27 member Mississauga Chamber Singers, TorQ Percussion Quartet (Richard Burrows, Adam Campbell, Jamie Drake & Daniel Morphy), pianists Ronald Greidanus & Adolfo De Santis, and soloists Nune Ananyan, soprano, Benjamin Done, tenor and Alexander Hajek, baritone.

      In a choral concert it’s usually soloists who get the glory, so I thought I could at least lead with the photos of the choirs.

      Mississauga Chamber Singers
      Toronto Beach Chorale

      Here are the participants in the concert, featuring Carmina Burana in a version for two pianos and percussion ensemble rather than a full orchestra. But don’t mistake that for small, as the sound, especially the big choral moments, were still vivid and powerful inside the Kingston Road United Church given its lively acoustic.

      Pianist Ronald Greidanus
      Pianist Adolfo De Santis
      Tor Q Percusssion Quartet (photo: Bo Huang)
      Soprano Nune Ananyan
      Baritone Alexander Hajek
      Tenor Benjamin Done

      Carmina Burana is a curious mix of old and new, at times an evocation of a simpler, older way of music making, even if there is still a modernist edge to some of the climaxes & sonorities. The first half of the concert assembled a series of possible influences upon Orff, creative threads that were coming to fruition in the century before he composed the work.

      We heard a tight performance, the conductor’s tempi bold and energetic, among the quickest I have heard: very much as I like it. The smaller ensemble (two pianos & four percussionists) allowed that kind of quickness, perhaps more flexibility and control than could easily be achieved with the large orchestra Orff originally prescribed. Perhaps this performance used the reduction created in the 1950s by Wilhelm Killmayer, although to be honest I couldn’t really see the players & their instruments, but only glimpsed singers during their solos and the choirs standing at the back.

      The soloists were a pleasure to hear, Alex Hajek’s warm baritone and Nune Ananyan’s clear soprano delightful. I was especially impressed with Benjamin Done’s swan-song, a piece often involving falsetto or some squawked grotesquerie, that he managed to sing with his own beautiful voice.

      This was the last concert of the season for both the Toronto Beach Chorale and the Mississauga Chamber Singers. To see what they’re up to you can find them on social media or on their websites:

      Toronto Beach Chorale
      Mississauga Choral Society

      Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark from Shakespeare, Lepage, Côté and Gzowski

      Posted on April 26, 2026 by barczablog

      The run is so brief as to make this review seem pointless. Friday night I saw the opening of the Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark. My blog may be done by Saturday, but anyone seeing a weekend showing already had their tickets, so my work is surely academic.

      But I really love this stuff, looking at something new and trying to understand, testimony that hopefully helps me understand the process, to explore what the piece is doing. This is Hamlet but is not really Shakespeare. We’re in the realm of adaptation, so it’s only Shakespeare if you accept that the Otello by Rossini or Verdi are also Shakespeare. It’s especially curious because the team of Robert Lepage, Guillaume Côté and so many others have made magic without anyone speaking, presenting this wordy play wordlessly.

      Robert Lepage (photo: Helene Bouffard)
      Guillaume Côté (photo: Matt Barnes)

      No that’s not completely true. There are titles that appear as you might see in a silent film, introducing segments. As I watched I was captivated, fascinated by story-telling, by moving bodies and a new way of experiencing Hamlet minus the usual verbosity.

      Guillaume Côté is both choreographer and the Hamlet we watched dancing, fencing, and eventually dying.

      No soliloquys: although one of the titles mentioned “to be or not to be” more or less as an allusion en passant but that’s okay. I didn’t miss them, recalling an operatic Hamlet adaptation I saw (Matthew Jocelyn & Brett Dean at the Metropolitan Opera in 2022) that left them out. The funny thing at this point is how, dealing with such a known play the speeches become like part of the synopsis, a sort of subtext from another century that we can now discard because haven’t we all seen 100 productions of the play? When you come to the end and say “the rest is…” do we need to hear “silence?” These are among the most familiar lines in the English language, so in other words, maybe we’re ready to let go of the words.

      No troupe of players: because the play within a play was enacted by Hamlet & Horatio in masks, rather than travelling players, saving us some extra verbiage.

      No grave-digger: although we did get the skull of Yorick as a bit of comic relief. I was sitting there trying to decide whether I liked this for a moment, and then with the arrival of the funeral procession for Ophelia, the choice made a lot of sense, given the powerful insanely passionate scene that followed, Laertes & Hamlet tussling over the body, practically enacting a sort of necrophilia, and getting us ready for the duel to come.

      Laertes (Lukas Malkowski) beside the body of his sister Ophelia (Carleen Zouboules), Claudius (Robert Glumbek) & Gertrude (Sonia Rodriguez) grieving upstage (photo: Roman Boldyrev)

      No Fortinbras no Osric no Marcellus: as the play has been stream-lined down to its essentials.

      Today (the morning after) I am remembering several other Robert Lepage hybrid creations, intrigued by the way we are taken into something new by grafting one thing onto another.

      In Far Side of the Moon (both the live play and the film) we see something mysterious as a character seems to fly as they ascend up a wall as though floating.

      Olivier Normand as Philippe (Photo: Li Wang), The Far Side of the Moon in Toronto, November 2025

      Lepage & Côté do something similar for Ophelia’s drowning, using a massive piece of fabric. It’s both a brilliant use of the set and the dancer, with bodies helping to support her as she floats or drifts or is carried away. It’s not just dance. The fabric has the added benefit of suggesting a very old sort of mise en scène such as we might have encountered centuries ago, as we’ve seen from Opera Atelier in their period sets for baroque opera.

      The ghostly apparition when Hamlet sees his dead father is done with shadows reminding me of some of the effects seen in Lepage’s production with the Canadian Opera Company of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables.

      Lukas Malikowski (photo: Stephane Bourgeois)

      Again this was comparatively low-tech, no CGI or video but rather light & shadow and bodies moving.

      The duel employs streamers that reminded me of the way computer effects help us to see the path of a hockey puck or a football in sports replays. I was grateful for a stylization that made the fight easier to follow even if this also likely made the work of Hamlet & Laertes that much harder as they simulated a fight to the death.

      Hamlet (Guillaume Côté) duels Laertes (Lukas Malkowski) as Claudius (Robert Glumbek)
      & Gertrude (Sonia Rodriguez) watch from upstage (photo by Roman Boldyrev)

      And this too invokes older styles of theatre as with the shadows and the fabric for water.

      I noticed another hybrid from Lepage & Côté in the choreography. Maybe I could quietly assume this is all Côté –given that I’m speaking of movement– except that it really impacts the dramaturgy, the process of the story-telling. Perhaps Côté is the one who sketches in the specifics of the dance, after discussion / direction from Lepage. We see Hamlet dance with Rosenkrantz & Guildenstern, a remarkably fun sequence as though to suggest student life & a peer-relationship, although I was also mindful of Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks. This is meaningful not least because R & G are helping to plot Hamlet’s murder with Claudius, so if we can relate to them as a kind of Tweedledee – Tweedledum pair who aren’t fully differentiated as humans with feelings, perhaps (they might have thought) their death is less troubling in a work where almost everyone dies by the end. There are several other examples of a stylized movement vocabulary specific to a character, Ophelia (Carleen Zouboules), Polonius (Michel Faigaux), Claudius (Robert Glumbek) and Horatio (Natasha Poon Woo) for example. It might be true for everyone in the show.

      Guillaume Côté and Robert Lepage (photo: François Latulippe)

      Some of the big musical numbers danced by members of the company are impressive original compositions from composer John Gzowski. Near the beginning there’s one that sounds like a passacaglia, an old form of variations. There’s a musical number for the play within a play, (if i didn’t mix this up with another part), where the piece is in a meter of 5, that makes it especially quirky as we watch Claudius in effect watching himself murdering his brother. And then he freaks out, running away from the play in distress. The choice to immediately show us his failed prayer and Hamlet approaching and deciding not to kill at that moment was tremendously clear, economical, eloquent. At times like this it felt as though we had evolved past words, improved upon Shakespeare (if you can forgive the heresy). The team (Lepage, Côté & Gzowski) made the text fluid & responsive to the needs of the storytelling, and I’m just trying to grasp what I saw & felt, as recollected the next day. I’m recalling my preference, that we need to see & hear these things more than once, to be able to decode and to understand, especially if there is complexity. That’s true for sci-fi films such as Project Hail Mary (that I saw yesterday) or 2001: A Space Odyssey, it’s true for complex orchestral compositions or novels or plays. I keep discovering new things in Hamlet, by the way, speaking of something I have seen and read many times.

      Composer John Gzowski

      While I have been talking a great deal about the hybrid between Lepage & Côté, we must properly include Gzowski in the reckoning. I have no clue as to how they work, how they create, whether the composer works the way they do in some films as a sort of post-production creator, fitting music after the fact. Or maybe he’s the text-maker whose composition is presented to the team and then must be choreographed / staged. It used to puzzle me more than a bit, observing films & plays, as to which came first. In something like Fantasia the film is animated after the existing pieces of music, a pattern followed by Stanley Kubrick in 2001. I understood that film composers come in after the fact, usually. But in the big set pieces at least, surely it is Gzowski who composed music first that the dancers must then encounter & that organizes/structures their movements choreographed by/with Côté. Gzowski has made new pieces of music, an original ballet. I reviewed a Toronto Symphony CD from a live performance of Miraculous Mandarin, a ballet composed by Béla Bartók roughly a century ago; perhaps someday we will have a live performance of Gzowski’s ballet or theatre music, pieces deserving to be heard without any visuals, just as music. As with film music we may notice that the movement & staging completes the experience, that the music might feel incomplete or understated without Hamlet or Ophelia or the others before us onstage: and that’s to be expected. And in some other places Gzowski is likely coming in later in the process, creating sound design & dramatic effects to set moods & help transitions between segments. Yes I think of this as segmented, the way a silent film is segmented, complete with titles to tell us who enters as in the playtext, such as “enter Queen”. If I had one critique –and I don’t hold this against Gzowski– it’s that the levels seemed to be set too high. I put kleenex into my ears the way I do at a rock concert, because I found it too loud. The levels are possibly set here in Toronto by stage management / sound technicians at the Elgin Theatre, possibly the way Gzowski wanted it. All I know is that it felt too loud for my ears.

      I am excited to see that Show One Productions, the team who brought us Hamlet, will be bringing back Lepage’s 887 in December, a show that I love. I look forward to seeing it again.

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      She Holds up the Stars from Red Sky & Toronto Symphony

      Posted on April 20, 2026 by barczablog

      In a week of adaptations, the trip to Roy Thomson Hall to see & hear the world premiere of She Holds Up the Stars from the Toronto Symphony & Red Sky Performance on Sunday April 19th was a fabulous case study in how to do it right. Sandra Laronde wrote the original novella that has become a staged performance with actors, puppets, voices and orchestral music.

      Excuse me if I sound a bit reductive in my analysis, but I want to highlight what I saw and what we might conclude. This brief YouTube promotional video gives you an idea of the show, presented first as school performances April 13-18 followed by a pair of public matinee performances today.

      Sandra Laronde’s novella tells the story of twelve-year old Misko, a girl who has come to live on the rez, wondering about her missing mother, entranced by a horse that lives on the land nearby. Thomas, the boy who has been training it, seeks to break the horse that she names “Mishtadim”, that the boy & his father call “Brutus”. Misko challenges their concept that a horse should be broken. The man abuses his son, and if he can’t break the horse will “get rid of it”. The abusive father is also deep in debt and will be persuaded to sell the horse, leading to one of the threads in the happy ending.

      I found the performance very moving in its simplicity, the story enacted using large-scale puppets, particularly a multi-person creation for Mishtadim, who is eventually ridden by Misko. A small-ish orchestra upstage of the action played in support of the action & dialogue, reminding me of the music we hear in a film soundtrack, composed by Eliot Britton, and conducted by Trevor Wilson. All the parts work well together, mostly because the adaptation does not over-complicate.

      While the show works well for children (I was sitting beside a family that included a babe in arms beside me), there’s nothing wrong with story-telling that’s simple enough to be inclusive.

      Sandra Laronde: Writer, Creator, Director

      There were moments that I found were crystal clear, from having read Sandra’s novel, that were given additional emphasis, as though underlined by dialogue. I welcome this, although I know some people would make a class distinction between sophisticated creations and those that are sufficiently inclusive to be intelligible to younger adults or even children. For me this is ideal, as I think sophistication is a kind of curse, especially when I look at the way adaptations are received (and sometimes rejected) by those who know the work being adapted. I saw this recently with the Met high-def broadcast of Tristan und Isolde, and with Marshall Pynkoski’s Pelléas et Mélisande. For both operas, the happiest viewers were the ones arriving with no prior knowledge or expectations, while the least satisfied audience-members came with requirements & stipulations because of their attachment to the original. And more recently it was the Gospel stories loosely adapted in Erin Shields’ play about the 4 women named Mary. In every one of these recent cases, it felt as though the artists believe in complexity for its own sake, as though they were not permitted to be simple or direct. Obscurity makes sense if we see this as a credential for the profession, that we know something is art because we can’t easily understand it. Thank goodness Sandra didn’t fall into this trap.

      I want to also mention the academics I ran into on the way out of Roy Thomson Hall, who were not as impressed as I, likely because they found the show too sentimental (in fairness I put words in their mouths, when they said they didn’t share my enthusiasm). I think this is again the cursed sophistication I spoke of, the concern that the piece can’t be good if it’s truly inclusive. I am mentioning this ruefully, sad that the very thing I would celebrate in today’s show would be a liability to someone else. All I know is, I came out of the theatre beaming, having shed tears watching & listening, and noticing at least a couple of others in my vicinity who were wiping their eyes, parents who came with their children.

      I was moved thinking about the recognition some may feel, in seeing themselves. We may take representation for granted because the arts show versions of us. I’m grateful to Sandra for what she has accomplished with this story, both as a novella and brought to the stage, especially for school children to watch and discuss in class.

      Julia Davis as Misko in She Holds up the Stars (photo: Jason George)

      The performers were young-looking actors using amplification to be heard, speaking clearly while at times scampering across the floor like acrobats. Julia Davis was Misko, Marsha Knight her grandmother Kokum, the keeper of sacred wisdom and the one who helped arrange for the happy ending. James Gerus was a vulnerable & sympathetic Thomas, loyal to his father but persuaded by Misko to help her in her quest to save the horse.

      Forgive me that I again allude to Timothee Chalamet who spoke of concern about art-forms that were close to dying out. It’s no surprise to see the hall full today, including lots of parents & children, who had a wonderful time. When the art is direct & simple the audience comes out in support. Red Sky and the Toronto Symphony seem to understand this, and it’s good news.

      Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment