Category Archives: Books & Literature

Blithe Spirits

Posted on September 6, 2023 by barczablog

Hmm: another trip to Shaw, another ghost story. Last time it was Wharton’s The Shadow of a Doubt. “Shadow” is another word for spirit, right in the title. This past weekend Erika and I went to see Blithe Spirit at … Continue reading →

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Three Oppenheimers

Posted on August 27, 2023 by barczablog

No one left the IMAX theatre for the three intense hours of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Nightmare images that night reminded of my childhood, portents of the end of the world as I tossed and turned. Kai Bird and Martin J … Continue reading →

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Edith Wharton’s The Shadow of a Doubt at Shaw Festival

Posted on August 12, 2023 by barczablog

There’s a mystery underlying Edith Wharton’s play The Shadow of a Doubt. The text was just rediscovered by scholars in 2016, after sitting unproduced. There was almost a production in 1903 but it was cancelled. And now the Shaw Festival … Continue reading →

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Rossini’s Otello from Opera By Request

Posted on June 26, 2023 by barczablog

Last night I watched a concert presentation of Rossini’s Otello from Opera By Request, a company who demonstrate their importance with every outing.   Bill Shookhoff leads from the piano working without a conductor, seated upstage of performers who face the … Continue reading →

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Macbeth closing performance: women have it harder

Posted on May 21, 2023 by barczablog

Three weeks ago I reviewed the powerful opening night of the new Sir David McVicar production of Verdi’s Macbeth from the Canadian Opera Company. Today I came full circle watching the last show of the run including exciting changes in … Continue reading →

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Barkley: Snoopy or Benjy?

Posted on May 1, 2023 by barczablog

Barkley Barcza is our newest family member. We didn’t choose the name, glad to use the name that he already seems to know. And yes it sounds cute with his surname. Snoopy is the beagle everyone knows, the creation of … Continue reading →

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Creepy COC Macbeth

Posted on May 1, 2023 by barczablog

On a dark rainy day in the midst of Toronto’s traffic chaos I was rendered speechless by the new Canadian Opera Company production of Verdi’s Macbeth directed by Sir David McVicar. I never knew this opera could move me so … Continue reading →

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Bud Roach’s provocative new recording Affetti Amorosi

Posted on April 22, 2023 by barczablog

Although I listened twice through to Affetti Amorosi, Bud Roach’s new CD of 17th century songs in his light tenor voice accompanying himself on the theorbo, I took a break for holy week as I turned to his other recent … Continue reading →

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Being Legendary at the ROM: Kent Monkman confronts Colonialism and rethinks History

Posted on March 31, 2023 by barczablog

Kent Monkman’s current show Being Legendary at the Royal Ontario Museum continues for a couple of weeks more until April 16th. Art Canada Institute have created a book that helps preserve the show and its impact. I’ve been pondering the … Continue reading →

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Metamorphoses 2023

Posted on March 27, 2023 by barczablog

Last night I watched a brand new opera featuring a sensual feast of colours hitting the eye and ear. Today I was at Crow’s Theatre, enjoying Metamorphoses 2023 from Theatre Smith-Gilmour, in Ovid’s stories of transformations of gods & humans, … Continue reading →

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