Category Archives: Books & Literature

Douglas Chambers – Stonyground

Posted on May 5, 2020 by barczablog

I heard today that Douglas Chambers passed away this past weekend, and that the cause of his passing was COVID-19. I sometimes make big long preambles when I’m avoiding something. I can’t deny this time that I’m avoiding several big … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Essays, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged Douglas Chambers, gardens | 10 Comments

Disappointing Planet of the Humans

Posted on April 29, 2020 by barczablog

I’m giggling as I begin writing this, because I know that for some people, credentials are everything. If I dare speak about an enviro-documentary where do I stand, where am I coming from? This is such a partisan world that … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Jerry Pournelle, JG Ballard, Larry Niven, Lucifer's Hammer, The Wind from Nowhere | 1 Comment

Not #MeToo

Posted on February 14, 2020 by barczablog

I’m upset. It’s not that I’m having a bad day. I just keep hearing news that’s upsetting. Two very different women I knew, each an avatar of female strength, have passed away. I met each of them, knew them very … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, University life | Tagged #metoo, Alexander Neef, Anne Kingston, Canadian Opera Company, Christie Blatchford, feminism, Stephen Lord, women | Leave a comment

Brilliantly Problematic Porgy & Bess

Posted on February 2, 2020 by barczablog

Don’t let the headline fool you. When you see that the Metropolitan Opera are producing The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess for the first time in almost thirty years, seemingly selling every ticket to every performance, you might well ask them: … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Angel Blue, DuBose Heyward, Eric Owens, Frederick Ballantyne, George Gershwin, Golda Schultz, Ira Gershwin, Metropolitan Opera, Porgy & Bess, Szilveszter Ókovács | 3 Comments

Parenthood, poverty, Hansel & Gretel: a conversation with Joel Ivany

Posted on January 26, 2020 by barczablog

In a few days Joel Ivany, Artistic Director of Against the Grain Theatre, will be premiering his new Hansel and Gretel at the Four Seasons Centre, in a Canadian Opera Company production. Singled out for last year’s Against the Grain … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Interviews, Opera | Tagged Adelheid Wette, Against the Grain Theatre, Alexander Neef, Brothers Grimm, Curious George, Emily Fons, Engelbert Humperdinck, Hansel and Gretel, Home Alone, Joel Ivany, Johannes Debus, Krisztina Szabo, Michael Colvin, Russell Braun, Simone Osborne, Where the Wilds Things Are | 2 Comments

To New York with Gershwin

Posted on January 14, 2020 by barczablog

Sometimes I have a fear of flying. I usually love the takeoff & normally sit by the window but when there’s turbulence I like to distract myself. On a trip to New York what better subject could one find than … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera, Popular music & culture, Reviews, University life | Tagged Anna Harwell Celenza, Duke Ellington, EJB library, Ellen Noonan, George Gershwin, Lydia Perović, The Cambridge Companion to Gershwin | 1 Comment

Rusalka: and now for something completely different

Posted on October 13, 2019 by barczablog

Tonight the Canadian Opera Company premiered their take on the recent Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Dvořák’s Rusalka directed by Sir David McVicar. It stands in rather stark contrast to the other current COC production, Puccini’s Turandot¸ whose mise-en-scene … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged Andrew George, Anthony Tommasini, Antonin Dvorak, Canadian Opera Company, Elena Manistina, Four Seasons Centre, Johannes Debus, Keri Alkema, Lauren Eberwein, Matthew Cairns, Pavel Cernoch, Sir David McVicar, Stefan Kocan | 2 Comments

Not quite forgotten: Liszt’s Valses oubliées

Posted on October 6, 2019 by barczablog

The composer centennials & bicentennials may be artificial stimuli to research, but the effect is real. Knowing that everyone is suddenly focusing upon a particular period seems to inspire all sorts of interesting studies, conferences where people share their research … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Psychology and perception | Tagged disability, Franz Liszt, Mária Eckhardt, Peter Jost, Valses oubliées, virtuosity, Vladimir Horowitz | 1 Comment

The miraculous simplicity of Hearing Beethoven

Posted on August 14, 2019 by barczablog

I’m very grateful for the serendipity that led to Robin Wallace’s book even if the fate governing its creation is cruel indeed. A shy and short-sighted musicologist named Robin married a nurse named Barbara. She was losing her hearing. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception, Reviews | Tagged Alice Miller, deafness, disability studies, hearing loss, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robin Wallace, The Drama of the Gifted Child, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 1 Comment

I swallowed a moon made of iron: Oxymoronic, Prophetic

Posted on May 18, 2019 by barczablog

Njo Kong Kie has created a one man show from Xu Lizhi’s texts, that he sings and enacts mostly from the piano, I swallowed a moon made of iron, presented at the Berkeley Street Theatre by Canadian Stage. That title comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Popular music & culture | Tagged Canadian Stage, I swallowed a moon made of iron, Njo Kong Kie, Xu Lizhi | Leave a comment