Monthly Archives: January 2025

New COC Butterfly gets it right

Posted on January 27, 2025 by barczablog

Everything clicked today in the Canadian Opera Company presentation of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Four Seasons Centre. I’ve been enjoying the music of this opera all my life in spite of shortcomings, never having experienced a production that was … Continue reading →

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Paraphrases on La Reine-garçon from Sherkin & Bilodeau

Posted on January 24, 2025 by barczablog

Today was my first time attending a noon-hour Canadian Opera Company concert in a long time, tempted by a few magic words: a world premiere performance of excerpts from a suite of paraphrases composed by Julien Bilodeau, whose opera La … Continue reading →

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Auspicious beginning to (unofficial) TSO Beethoven festival

Posted on January 23, 2025 by barczablog

This week the Toronto Symphony offer the first in a series of concerts featuring the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the most popular and best loved of all classical composers. Wednesday night’s performances were a brilliant start. No … Continue reading →

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Wights: a fit of words against words

Posted on January 16, 2025 by barczablog

From its title on down, Liz Appel’s new play Wights that opened at Crow’s Theatre last night had me astonished, perplexed, wondering whether I’d seen comedy satire or just the real lives of smart people using big words in their … Continue reading →

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Alceste on Bloor

Posted on January 13, 2025 by barczablog

After half a century at the Jane Mallett in St Lawrence Centre on Front St, Voicebox – Opera in Concert presented Gluck’s opera Alceste today at their new venue, Jeanne Lamon Hall in the Trinity-St Paul’s Centre on Bloor St … Continue reading →

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Talking to Lauren Margison about Alceste

Posted on January 3, 2025 by barczablog

Canadian soprano Lauren Margison will sing the title role in Gluck’s Alceste on January 12th with Voicebox Opera in Concert. Lauren is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble studio, the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal and a … Continue reading →

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