Author Archives: barczablog

TSO All Tchaikovsky

Posted on November 29, 2019 by barczablog

I came to hear Tchaikovsky at the Toronto Symphony and was rewarded with one of the most brilliant performances of his violin concerto that I’ve ever heard. The program at Roy Thomson Hall featured three works by the popular Russian … Continue reading →

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

Questions about Melancholiac: the Music of Scott Walker

Posted on November 28, 2019 by barczablog

Long ago I stumbled upon Scott Walker, via a cassette with the hand-written inscription The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker. I remember wondering: is this for real? What may have been at least part ironic self-mockery was upon closer inspection … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Interviews, Music and musicology | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Met HD Akhnaten

Posted on November 24, 2019 by barczablog

Yesterday I watched Philip Glass’s opera Akhnaten as presented in the Metropolitan Opera’s High Definition broadcast on a big screen in Scarborough, at the same time people were watching it in many places around the world. I wish the Canadian … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Met HD Akhnaten

Oxymoronic Augmented Opera

Posted on November 23, 2019 by barczablog

I don’t use that word lightly, and it’s not an insult. Some operas are oxymoronic, rife with contradiction, asymptotic in their fascination with impossibilities. Maeterlinck’s play Pelléas et Mélisande is the creation of a playwright who cringed in the presence … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Eight Singers Drinking: and Singing

Posted on November 9, 2019 by barczablog

While eight singers may have been drinking eight drinks at 8:00 pm on November 8th no one ate much of anything. (see what I did there?) At first I just thought it was a fun exercise, an excuse for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

New & Improved Don Giovanni

Posted on November 3, 2019 by barczablog

I saw Opera Atelier’s revival of Don Giovanni that’s running at the Ed Mirvish Theatre.  I loved it last time & it continues to thrill me as though it weren’t an opera I’ve known since childhood. But it feels new.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Ethics Project

Posted on November 1, 2019 by barczablog

The Ethics Project presents October 31- Nov. 12, 2019 in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal Remembering Terezín November 4, 10, and 12, 2019, in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. The Schulich Singers, McGill University’s premier choral ensemble, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, conductor, and guest artists … Continue reading →

Posted in Press Releases and Announcements | Leave a comment

The Bald Soprano

Posted on October 31, 2019 by barczablog

I’ve just seen the Théâtre Français de Toronto production of La Cantatrice Chauve aka The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ionesco, at the upstairs space at the Berkeley Street Theatre. I must apologize that the run is almost over, as I … Continue reading →

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

Opera Atelier Don Giovanni: Toronto context

Posted on October 28, 2019 by barczablog

Two down, one to go as far as the big operas are concerned. Robert Wilson’s Turandot and David McVicar’s Rusalka, a pair of fairy-tale operas in visually brilliant productions have finished at the Canadian Opera Company, while Opera Atelier are … Continue reading →

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

Skye Consort and Emma Björling: right after trick-or-treating

Posted on October 22, 2019 by barczablog

Within the first ten seconds of this new CD I knew I was going to like it. It’s Skye Consort & Emma Björling, and the first cut on the album is “Herr Hillebrand”, a traditional Medieval Swedish ballad, in Swedish. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Popular music & culture, Press Releases and Announcements, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment