Author Archives: barczablog

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 Akhnaten, Canadian Opera Company, Dennis Russell Davies, Donald Palumbo, Gandhi, Karen Kamensek, Phelim McDermott, Philip Glass, Satyagraha, Tom Pye | Comments Off

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 Benton Roark, Cryogenic preservation, Debi Wong, Debussy, Gardiner Expressway, Lauren Segal, Lyndsay Promane, Maeterlinck, Michael Hidetoshi Mori, Pelleas et Melisande, Philip Glass, Sidewalk Labs, Tap Ex, Tapestry Opera, Vanessa Oude-Reimerink, virtual reality, Walt Disney | 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 Aaron Durand, Catherine Daniel, Cole Porter, Gallery 345, Michael Nyby, Opera 5, Rachel Krehm, Richard Strauss, River Guard, Ryan Downey, Sonya Harper Nyby, Tongue In Cheek Productions | 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 Carla Huhtanen, Colin Ainsworth, David Fallis, Douglas Williams, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Gerrard Gauci, Gustav Andreassen, Marshall Pynkoski, Martha Mann, Meghan Lindsay, Mireille Asselin, Olivier LaQuerre, Opera Atelier, Stephen Hegedus, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 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 absurdist, Chanda Gibson, Christina Tannous, Geneviève Langlois, La Cantatrice Chauve, Manuel Verreydt, Pierre Simpson, Rossini, Sébastien Bertrand, Sophie Goulet, Théâtre Français de Toronto, The Bald Soprano, Ubu | 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 David McVicar, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Don Giovanni, Joseph So, Marshall Pynkoski, Opera Atelier, Robert Wilson, Rusalka, Turandot | 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 Alex Kehler, Amanda Keesmaat, Celtic, Emma Björling, folk, medieval music, Nordic, Québecois, Sean Dagher, Skye Consort | Leave a comment

Singing through Centuries: TMC’s 125th

Posted on October 21, 2019 by barczablog

Today the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir celebrated their 125th anniversary with a gala concert at Koerner Hall, joined for the occasion by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (who haven’t yet had their centennial, and who only came into existence in 1922). Led … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Andrew Balfour, David Fallis, Gabriel Faure, Koerner Hall, Messiah, Stravinsky, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

Nightwood Theatre: Strombergs Family Realization Fund winner

Posted on October 19, 2019 by barczablog

Nightwood Theatre is pleased to announce the winner of the inaugural Strombergs Family Realization Fund: Dian Marie Bridge. This $10,000 cash award, established by theatre director Vinetta Strombergs in honour of her artist parents, is intended to support a woman … Continue reading →

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