Author Archives: barczablog

Schoenberg: live performances reconciled with Straub-Huillet films

Posted on March 8, 2017 by barczablog

The title of the TIFF retrospective is NOT RECONCILED: THE FILMS OF JEAN-MARIE STRAUB AND DANIÈLE HUILLET. Sunday afternoon March 12th at 3:15 pm, Against the Grain Theatre will be offering a live performance alongside a screening of a film that … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology | 1 Comment

Toronto Summer Music: Passing the Torch

Posted on March 8, 2017 by barczablog

Toronto Summer Music Festival had their first ever launch event tonight in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, signifying the beginning of a new era: violinist & Toronto Symphony Concertmaster Jonathan Crow succeeding Douglas McNabney as Artistic Director. And to properly celebrate … Continue reading →

#NCF17 begins

Posted on March 5, 2017 by barczablog

The Toronto Symphony’s 2017 New Creations Festival aka #NCF17 co-curated by Owen Pallett and Peter Oundjian began tonight. And I couldn’t help feeling, this is what it should feel like when I go to the symphony. Usually? The place is … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | 1 Comment

Immolation Nation

Posted on February 26, 2017 by barczablog

The morning after the end of the world feels pretty good, especially if you’re one of the little people and not one of the old gods swept aside. I am not Barack or Hillary, just one of the little people who … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Leave a comment

Mackay’s Visions & Voyages

Posted on February 25, 2017 by barczablog

My own little reconciliation journey continues. Last year I saw the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Going Home Star, a ballet aiming to probe the history behind the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a powerful piece about the trauma associated with the residential … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology | 2 Comments

An Evening with the Ensemble Studio

Posted on February 24, 2017 by barczablog

Institutions are like buildings. They have structures. They’re solid, which means they resist change, and offer shelter to those who rely upon them. A change in an institution may be bewildering and hard to understand, but is ultimately inevitable, even … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera | Leave a comment

Kent Monkman: Our Shame, Our Prejudice, Their Resilience

Posted on February 23, 2017 by barczablog

I have just experienced Kent Monkman‘s show at the University of Toronto Art Museum, a series of paintings, textual passages and installations proposing something quite ambitious. As he observed in the Foreword (in a little brochure I picked up as … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Politics | 3 Comments

Toronto Symphony Ratatouille

Posted on February 18, 2017 by barczablog

I’ve been loving the live performances of film-scores accompanying screenings of films presented by the Toronto Symphony over the past couple of years. They set up a huge screen above the stage, the orchestra assembles in their usual place, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | Leave a comment

Don Giovanni in concert

Posted on February 18, 2017 by barczablog

Posted in Press Releases and Announcements | 1 Comment

Thirteen questions for James Quandt, Senior Programmer, TIFF Cinematheque

Posted on February 17, 2017 by barczablog

James Quandt is the Senior Programmer for TIFF Cinematheque. He has curated hundreds of directorial retrospectives, national surveys and thematic programmes that have contributed to the interest in and revival of forgotten masters and films, has been with TIFF since the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Interviews, Personal ruminations & essays | 2 Comments