Author Archives: barczablog

Interviewing pianist Illia Ovcharenko

Posted on February 20, 2025 by barczablog

Young pianist Illia Ovcharenko, winner of the 2022 Honens International Piano Competition, made a great impression at the Toronto Summer Music Festival in 2023. I remember expressing my hope that he would return. And he’s coming back Tuesday March 4th … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology | Tagged Borys Lyatoshinsky, classical-music, Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, Illia Ovcharenko, Jon Kimura Parker, Levko Revutsky, Litany, Music TORONTO, pianist, Sergey Bortkiewicz, Toronto Summer Music, Ukraine, Valentin Silvestrov, Vladimir Horowitz | Leave a comment

Interviewing the busy soprano, Holly Chaplin

Posted on February 16, 2025 by barczablog

This blog is often a vicarious exercise, a way for a wannabe composer singer pianist to get closer to my heroes, a bit of wish-fulfillment. In the process the reader gets my starstruck expressions of awe, while maybe we learn … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Holly Chaplin, Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, SOLO, Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, Voicebox Opera in Concert | Leave a comment

Appreciating Canadian Artists on Flag Day

Posted on February 14, 2025 by barczablog

The day after Valentine’s Day, February 15th 1965, the new Canadian flag replaced the old one. On both February 14th and 15th we see red, both days to show our love. Twenty-nine years ago, in 1996 Jean Chretien proclaimed “Flag … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, Personal ruminations & essays, Popular music & culture | Tagged Canada, Canadian Flag, Flag Day, Red Ensign, Valentine's Day | 2 Comments

Rachel Fenlon’s Winterreise

Posted on February 12, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight Music TORONTO presented Rachel Fenlon’s solo performance of Schubert’s Winterreise. This isn’t the usual winter journey. One normally expects a singer and a pianist to undertake this romantic cycle of 24 songs. It’s less usual to have a female … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Der Winterreise, Franz Schubert, Jane Mallett Theatre, Music TORONTO, pianist, Rachel Fenlon, self-accompanied, song cycle | Leave a comment

Jan Lisiecki plays Beethoven concerti

Posted on February 6, 2025 by barczablog

I’m going to stop calling Jan Lisiecki a young pianist. I just looked up his birthday, saw that on March 23rd he turns 30. But it’s not about the numbers. Tonight I heard the first of two concerts from Jan … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Beethoven, classical-music, Franz Josef Haydn, Jan Lisiecki, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart, Peter Oundjian, piano, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Symphony, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 2 Comments

A first look at La Reine-Garçon

Posted on February 3, 2025 by barczablog

I attended the Canadian Opera Company’s presentation of La Reine-Garçon, their co-production of a new opera with a libretto by Michel Marc Bouchard and music composed by Julien Bilodeau. Today, February 2nd, is Bouchard’s birthday. In addition to this libretto … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Aline Kutan, Anne-Marie Beaudette, Canadian Opera Company, Johannes Debus, Julien Bilodeau, Kirsten MacKinnon, kulning, La Reine-Garçon, Michel Marc Bouchard, Opéra de Montréal, Owen McCausland, Philippe Sly, Queen Hezumuryango, The Girl King, Wesley Harrison | 2 Comments

Varieties of virtuosity: an interview with Piano Lunaire founder Adam Sherkin

Posted on February 2, 2025 by barczablog

Last month I was delighted to discover Adam Sherkin at a free noon-hour concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, a brilliant pianist & composer I probably should have heard sooner and founder of Piano Lunaire. I jumped at the chance … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Barbara Hannigan, Boris Lysenko, Brian Current, Canadian Opera Company, Franz Josef Haydn, Franz Liszt, Julien Bilodeau, La Reine-Garçon, Leon Fleisher, opera, paraphrase, piano, Piano Lunaire, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Stewart Goodyear, Thomas Adès, Udo Steingraeber, virtuosity, virtuoso | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Eri Nakamura, Gene Wu, Giacomo Puccini, Hyona Kim, Julius Ahn, Kang Wang, Keri-Lynn WIlson, madama butterfly, Michael Samuel, opera, Puccini, Samuel Chan | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Canadian Opera Company, Gyorgy Ligeti, Julien Bilodeau, La Reine-Garçon, paraphrase, piano, Piano Lunaire | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in Music and musicology, My mother, Reviews | Tagged Beethoven, classical-music, Jan Lisiecki, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Robert Schumann, subito con forza, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, TSO, Unsuk Chin | Leave a comment