Author Archives: barczablog

CICM and OBR present Dvořák’s Jacobin

Posted on September 15, 2024 by barczablog

The Canadian Institute for Czech Music (CICM) and Opera by Request (OBR) collaborated to present Antonín Dvořák’s opera Jacobin in a concert performance with orchestra at Jeanne Lamon Hall Friday September 13th. Produced by Professor John Holland of CICM, conducted … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Nick Hamm nixes Will Tell ham

Posted on September 13, 2024 by barczablog

My headline is not just a nod to “Sticks Nix Hick Pix”. There truly was no ham to see in the gala World Premiere of William Tell, unless we include the man who wrote and directed, namely Nick Hamm speaking … Continue reading →

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

Fresh Rosmersholm at Crow’s Theatre

Posted on September 12, 2024 by barczablog

You sometimes hear people tell you that a play from another century seems to speak directly to our own time. Last night watching Duncan Macmillan’s new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Rosmersholm at Crow’s Theatre directed by Chris Abraham was the … Continue reading →

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

Mercury & La Passione: Rachel Podger leads Tafelmusik in Haydn Symphonies

Posted on September 7, 2024 by barczablog

There’s a new recording of two Symphonies by Joseph Haydn scheduled to come out in October from Tafelmusik. The performances feature violinist Rachel Podger, who debuts in her new role as Principal Guest Director later this month when Tafelmusik begin … Continue reading →

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

Thinking about Richard Strauss’s death in 1949

Posted on August 29, 2024 by barczablog

On September 8, 1949 composer and conductor Richard Strauss died after a long productive life. I think of him as a romantic composer carrying on the stylistic traditions of Richard Wagner. In Salome and Elektra he was the modernist pushing … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Poet and Peasant: a picture and an overture

Posted on August 25, 2024 by barczablog

In 1967 Joseph Budai was working on a renovation of a Chinese restaurant in Peterborough. An old lithograph picture was left inside the walls that he was renovating. At the time it was still inside an old ornate frame that … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Faustian legend in miniature: Orville Doodles and his Terrible Imagination

Posted on August 18, 2024 by barczablog

Today it’s the full moon, when people seem to go mad. I have just watched Scott McClelland’s Orville Doodles and his Terrible Imagination: a retelling of the Faust legend at the Red Sandcastle Theatre. No, there was no transformation into a … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Orville Doodles and the terrible imagination of Scott McClelland

Posted on August 14, 2024 by barczablog

Forgive me. The name of the show may be Orville Doodles and his Terrible Imagination but I couldn’t help thinking (as I ponder questions that I will pose to Orville’s creator), that Orville comes from the brain of Scott McClelland. … Continue reading →

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

Edwin Huizinga: Songs and Serenades at Sweetwater Music Festival

Posted on August 14, 2024 by barczablog

Edwin Huizinga is one of those people doing many things in different places. I first encountered him as part of Tafelmusik. I heard Edwin’s original composition in Opera Atelier’s The Angel Speaks in 2019, when he played his baroque violin. … Continue reading →

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

Recovering Romantic by Briane Nasimok

Posted on August 5, 2024 by barczablog

The concept of Recovering Romantic is simple. Whether or not we’re drinkers, we have all seen Alcoholics Anonymous in films and tv, that organization that gives addicts a place to find support on their journey back from rock bottom. AA … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Press Releases and Announcements | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment