Author Archives: barczablog

Remembering Jon Vickers, Canadian Heldentenor

Posted on July 12, 2015 by barczablog

There have been two singers above all the others who mattered to me as I grew up. Both were tenors.  I’ve talked about Jussi Björling, my touchstone of vocal perfection and the subject of a recent pilgrimage in Sweden. The other … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Independence Day Doodle Dandy

Posted on July 5, 2015 by barczablog

I am a Canadian.  I have a conspicuous “cz” in my surname, but then again, what is a Canadian, if not an immigrant or child of immigrants…? If you turn on the television any day of the year you’re deluged … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Personal ruminations & essays | Leave a comment

Opera by Request presents “A chair in love”

Posted on July 3, 2015 by barczablog

Opera by Request will be presenting a semi-staged version of a comic opera called “A chair in love” by Welsh-Canadian composer John Metcalf with libretto by Governor General award nominee Larry Tremblay. The plot revolves around an “urban angst” filmmaker … Continue reading →

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Filmscore 101 with Michael Kamen

Posted on June 30, 2015 by barczablog

I was already thinking about the art of the film score composer, having recently given James Horner’s work a look in the wake of his untimely death. A question I sometimes ponder: what is the hardest sort of music to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Remembering the films and the music of James Horner

Posted on June 24, 2015 by barczablog

Some say that if done right you shouldn’t notice the music in a movie. Of course that’s one ideal and it’s a much more self-effacing idea of how a composer should approach the task of composing a score for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Deep Inside Out

Posted on June 21, 2015 by barczablog

There I was in a theatre full of children for Father’s Day. As we got deeper into Inside Out the small ones were often silent. The small unrepresentative audience survey I conducted suggests that the kids enjoyed themselves but couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Psychology and perception, Reviews | 3 Comments

Remembering Sten Eirik

Posted on June 20, 2015 by barczablog

The sentence in the obituary that rings truest for me says “everyone believed there was so much more to come from Sten’s life.” I discovered the bad news when I went to the Guild Festival Theatre website to see what … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Hutcheons launch Four Last Songs with, what else: singing

Posted on June 17, 2015 by barczablog

When multi-disciplinary authors launch a book, you see people from many places & walks of life.  Whatever else you might say about Linda & Michael Hutcheon, they know some very cool people.  I saw singers, librarians, academics from several departments, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How it Storms: an Opera by Allen Cole on June 17 & 18

Posted on June 17, 2015 by barczablog

How it Storms The Array Space, 155 Walnut Ave. 2nd floor, Toronto, ON M6J 3W3 416.532.3019 http://www.arraymusic.com advance tickets can be purchased at: http://www.arraymusic.com/how-it-storms/ TOMORROW (Wednesday) and Thursday June 17 and 18 @ 8PM; $15 It is better to blaze up, … Continue reading →

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Picturing the Americas: AGO goes Hemispheric

Posted on June 16, 2015 by barczablog

As a swan song “Picturing the Americas” might be Matthew Teitelbaum’s finest hour.  The show is in some ways a triumph of diplomacy, an impossibly congenial meeting between museums and cultures sure to be a feather in his cap, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Reviews | 4 Comments