Category Archives: Art, Architecture & Design

Mendelssohn Choir — Brahms German Requiem

Posted on November 9, 2025 by barczablog

Friday night Toronto Mendelssohn Choir & Musicians of Kitchener – Waterloo Symphony presented Brahms German Requiem in a sold out Koerner Hall to rapturous applause. I had been initially concerned that this massive work employing a big choir & orchestra … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged A German Requiem, As I Lay Sleeping, chamber orchestra, Charlotte Siegel, classical-music, composition, Ein deutsches Requiem, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, Joachim Linckelmann, Johannes Brahms, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Koerner Hall, orchestration, R Murray Schafer, Russell Braun, Stephanie Martin, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Vanessa McKernan | Leave a comment

Robert Lepage’s Macbeth at Stratford

Posted on September 6, 2025 by barczablog

Bruce asked me whether the Scottish play is worth seeing. I had seen it from the front row, able to see every detail of the complex presentation in the Avon Theatre, less Shakespeare’s immortal play than Robert Lepage’s Macbeth. YMMV … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged 887, Avon Theatre, Bertold Brecht, Bluebeard's Castle, Canadian Opera Company, Eonnagata, erwartung, Ex Machina, Gesamtkunstwerk, John Gzowski, Lucy Peacock, Macbeth, Needles and Opium, Richard Wagner, Robert Lepage, Stratford Festival, The Tempest, Tom McCamus, Verfremdungseffekt, William Shakespeare, YMMV | 2 Comments

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 Alzheimers, Franz von Suppe, Joe Budai, OCA, OCADU, piano transcription, Poet and Peasant, University of Toronto Schools, UTS | 2 Comments

Gestures of Love – Hunters and Collectors: Evan Jones & Patrick DeCoste at The Drey Gallery

Posted on July 6, 2024 by barczablog

I just visited The Drey Gallery on Woodbine in East York, just north of Danforth. I was drawn by seeing Patrick DeCoste’s mention of the show on Facebook, plus the convenience of the location. I have friends and family living … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design | Tagged acrylic, Drew Gallery, East York, Evan Jones, Hulk Hogan, OCADU, Patrick DeCoste, The Drey, Woodbine | Leave a comment

2024 Met Gala – JG Ballard’s Garden of Time tone deaf to the rabble

Posted on May 16, 2024 by barczablog

The 2024 Met Gala fund-raiser used a JG Ballard story for its theme, The Garden of Time. Ballard is one of my favourite writers, especially his short stories and science fiction. Several have made wonderful films. Art and commerce lurk … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Popular music & culture | Tagged Auguste de Villiers de l’Isle-Adam, Axël, Claude Debussy, JG Ballard, Maurice Maeterlinck, Richard Wagner, Stéphane Mallarmé, Symbolist, The Garden of Time | Leave a comment

Philip Chiu’s Fables

Posted on May 12, 2024 by barczablog

I have been listening to FABLES, the excellent ATMA CD of piano music by Philip Chiu pairing two piano transcriptions of music by Ravel with Mnidoonskaa (A Multitude of Insects), a 2021 work by Anishinaabekwe composer Barbara Assiginaak. “Fables” makes … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged An Abundance of Insects, Barbara Assiginaak, Juno, Maurice Denis, Maurice Ravel, Mnidoonskaa, Mother Goose, Philip Chiu, piano, transcription | 1 Comment

Adam Klein reflects on the beginning of his operatic career

Posted on January 2, 2024 by barczablog

How do we begin? It’s a good question to ask on January 1st. I am a big fan of tenor Adam Klein. I saw him play Loge in the Robert Lepage production of Das Rheingold, just about the only singer who … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Interviews, Opera | Tagged Adam Klein, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Claude Debussy, Das Rheingold, David Fallis, David Wright, Eric Solstein, Gene Boucher, Harold C Schonberg, Judith Blegen, Louis Quilico, Maurice Maeterlinck, Metropolitan Opera, Patricia Windrow, Paul-Émile Débert, Pelléas et Mélisande, Robert Lepage, Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Stewart, Winterreise | Leave a comment

Questions for Constance Adorno Barcza

Posted on December 30, 2023 by barczablog

Barczablog is like a public diary, a place where I reflect & offer opinions. It should be no surprise that in such a self-centred medium I should write about a Barcza occasionally. In those instances I’m more reticent, whether I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Interviews | Tagged Constance Adorno Barcza, digital photography, Peter Barcza, photography, UBC, University of Toronto | 5 Comments

Feline friendly aesthetic

Posted on November 17, 2023 by barczablog

I thought at first I’d call this “life in a cat house”, until I realized it might have some unsavory associations. Last week Erika and I went to visit our friend Eryna Huzan, one of the most hospitable people I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Art, Architecture & Design, Personal ruminations & essays | 1 Comment

The view from The Inn at Lock Seven in Thorold

Posted on August 13, 2023 by barczablog

Watching boats from the Inn at Lock Seven? Our friends Jim and Louise gave us the idea. You must have heard that ships are able to travel inland as far as Chicago or Minnesota. But how do they get past … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Karma Kameleon Gastropub, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Shaw Festival, The Inn at Lock Seven, Thorold, Welland Canal | 4 Comments