Category Archives: Art, Architecture & Design

13 ways of looking at Pyramus and Thisbe

Posted on November 6, 2015 by barczablog

If a scientist could slice up love and loss into small specimens and put them onto slides and put them under a microscope it would resemble what we saw at the Four Seasons Centre tonight and in earlier performances from … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | 1 Comment

Painting set free by JMW Turner

Posted on October 31, 2015 by barczablog

When I was a teenager I discovered the great English painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851) at around the same time that my infatuation began with the other romantic artists in other media. In poetry … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Personal ruminations & essays | 2 Comments

Attila Keszei: the eco-warrior rides on

Posted on July 18, 2015 by barczablog

My friend Attila Keszei is back.  Attila, an engineer who offered heroic leadership in the quest for sustainability and reducing the university’s carbon footprint retired from the University of Toronto a few years ago.  But his creativity continues unabated,  retirement … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, University life | Tagged | 3 Comments

Picturing the Americas: AGO goes Hemispheric

Posted on June 16, 2015 by barczablog

As a swan song “Picturing the Americas” might be Matthew Teitelbaum’s finest hour.  The show is in some ways a triumph of diplomacy, an impossibly congenial meeting between museums and cultures sure to be a feather in his cap, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Reviews | 4 Comments

10 Questions for Alex Fallis

Posted on May 9, 2015 by barczablog

Alex Fallis is a Toronto native who has been a part of the Canadian professional theatre for over thirty years. He is an actor, director, singer and teacher. As a performer and director, he has experience in opera, musical theatre, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Dance, theatre & musicals, Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Towards a new theatre vocabulary: Lepage, Cavalia and the legitimacy of aerials

Posted on May 1, 2015 by barczablog

It’s aerial week in Toronto: Robert Lepage’s pair of brief operas (Bluebeard’s Castle / Erwartung) for the Canadian Opera Company open May 6th at the Four Seasons Centre, including moments when you can’t tell which way is up Robert Lepage’s Needles … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Art, Architecture & Design, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | 5 Comments

Escher & Farmer at National Gallery

Posted on March 23, 2015 by barczablog

Gallery attractions are sometimes from a permanent collection, sometimes brought in from elsewhere.  When you visit the National Gallery in Ottawa next month you’ll be able to see the Alex Colville show that was seen in Toronto at the AGO … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology | Leave a comment

Michaelangelo, Rodin and genius

Posted on October 16, 2014 by barczablog

My first look yesterday at the new Art Gallery of Ontario show, “Michaelangelo: Quest for Genius”, was an ecstatic experience. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so strongly that a curatorial team understand me & my concerns coming to this … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Reviews | 1 Comment

The Coffee Mill and old Yorkville: multiculturalism & a changing city

Posted on August 30, 2014 by barczablog

When I saw the piece earlier this week in the Toronto Star about the impending closure of The Coffee Mill, I knew I had to go one last time. Tonight four of us went for a last nostalgic whiff, even … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Food, Health and Nutrition, Popular music & culture, Reviews | 2 Comments

Alex Colville: love and menace

Posted on August 29, 2014 by barczablog

The new show at the Art Gallery of Ontario is called “Alex Colville”. Other shows have had epithets attached. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera was titled “Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting” Francis Bacon and Henry Moore was titled … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments