Author Archives: barczablog

Full Circle: JT and The 20/20 Experience

I seem to have come full circle with Justin Timberlake.  An opera-loving friend of mine moaned that Justin Timberlake is among the “Time 100“, a list purporting to identify the 100 most influential people in the world.  I don’t think … Continue reading →

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Toronto Opera Collaborative Le Cid

Tonight Toronto Opera Collaborative presented Massenet’s Le Cid, an opera that is outside the boundaries of what’s usually understood as the “standard repertoire” of operas one usually encounters in an opera house.  There’s a single piece that some might recognize, … Continue reading →

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Besame Opera

There’s lots of kissing in “Bésame Ópera”, the Spanish double bill from Opera 5 currently playing at Gallery 345.   Sometimes it’s even human beings doing it. I feel lucky that, by a curious coincidence, the new work in Monday’s … Continue reading →

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Farewell to the Queen

This afternoon we said goodbye to Queen of Puddings Music Theatre in the same manner we’ve known them, namely through yet another premiere of a new work. QPMT’s finale under the auspices of the Canadian Opera Company’s free noon-hour series … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Patrick Jordan

Patrick Jordan is a native of West Texas who is in demand across North America as a chamber and orchestral musician.  Jordan has been a member of the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra since 1997, serving most recently as principal … Continue reading →

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Déjà Egoyan

The title is ambiguous, meaning several things. I am writing again about an Egoyan, this time Atom, after two recent rhapsodic pieces about his sister (concert & CD review) Egoyan returns again to Strauss’s Salome, a modified revival of a … Continue reading →

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carried away on the crest of a wave

You may have seen the poster for carried away on the crest of a wave, David Yee’s new play that just opened at Tarragon Theatre, directed by Nina Lee Aquino..  The title hints at its subject, namely the tsunami that … Continue reading →

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Robert Carsen’s Dialogues des Carmelites

Premiered in 1997 at Nederlandse Opera, seen at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and La Scala in Milan, Robert Carsen’s production of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites is better than a new production, because it’s an acclaimed classic.  And now … Continue reading →

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Stephen Bell: Kojuigatsus – longing for home

“Longing for home” is a phrase that resonates in North America, where everyone—immigrant or aboriginal—is in some sense displaced.  As a child born in Canada of Hungarian parents I am in a funny place, loyal to the old country of … Continue reading →

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Windermere String Quartet Sunday April 28th

“Press releases and announcements” are presented verbatim without comment. WINDERMERE STRING QUARTET CLOSES ITS EIGHTH SEASON WITH “THE ART OF THE FUGAL FINALE” Contact: Laura Jones (416) 516-8487 ldeanjones@hotmail.com On Sunday, April 28th at 3:00 p.m, the Windermere String Quartet … Continue reading →

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