Category Archives: Cinema, video & DVDs

Surprising Chevalier

Posted on April 25, 2023 by barczablog

How could I resist seeing Chevalier, the new film about Joseph Bologne? He’s been called the “black Mozart”. He was given the title Chevalier de St Georges by Marie Antoinette, composer of operas, symphonies, a virtuoso violinist and master swordsman. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Chevalier, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Stefani Robinson, Stephen Williams, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

Philadelphia pairs from Jonathan Demme

Posted on April 14, 2023 by barczablog

We watched Philadelphia (1993) last night for the first time in awhile. I’m just writing this to call attention to a pattern I think I’ve observed in the work of director Jonathan Demme. I haven’t seen all of his films, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology | Tagged Maria Callas, Howard Shore, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme, Denzel Washington, Married to the Mob, Something Wild, Philadelphia, Neil Young | Leave a comment

Salome returns to tumultuous welcome

Posted on February 4, 2023 by barczablog

The Canadian Opera Company’s co-production of Richard Strauss’s Salome returned last night in the first of seven performances to huge applause. It’s a star vehicle for Ambur Braid in the title role, a wonderful first outing for Michael Schade as … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Ambur Braid, Atom Egoyan, Canadian Opera Company, Johannes Debus, Karita Mattila, Michael Kupfer-Radecky, Michael Schade, Richard Strauss, Salome | Leave a comment

Salome: from Matthew and Mark, through Oscar, Richard and Atom

Posted on February 1, 2023 by barczablog

It can be enjoyable to trace the changes in the way a story is adapted and/or interpreted. Salome begins in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Matthew 14:1-11 (NIV)1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Atom Egoyan, Canadian Opera Company, Oscar Wilde, Regietheater, Richard Strauss, Salome, The Ten Commandments | Leave a comment

Telling stories of dogs and gods

Posted on January 19, 2023 by barczablog

Anecdotes are one sort of story. For example I heard that in 2020 COVID caused a surge in canine adoptions. Later I heard there was a flood in reverse, dogs being given up when people changed their minds. No I … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, My mother | Tagged adaptation, André Alexis, Animal Farm, apologue, Bengal Tiger, Crow's Theatre, Fifteen Dogs, George Orwell, Giller Prize, Isle of Dogs, Marie Farsi, Pride and Prejudice, rescue dogs, Wes Anderson | Leave a comment

Best of 2022

Posted on January 9, 2023 by barczablog

I enjoy recalling the best moments of the past 12 months. There’s a fork in the road, however. One pathway leads towards that which is truly “new”, while the other relies on what we’ve seen before. Need I mention, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Alexander Neef, ARC Ensemble, Arkady Spivak, Canadian Opera Company, CERB, Chris Abraham, Conan and the Stone of Kelior, Corey Arnold, Crow's Theatre, Eldritch Theatre, Elisa Citterio, Eric Woolfe, Gay for Pay, Gould's Wall, Gustavo Gimeno, Joel Ivany, Kyle McDonald, Lauren Pearl, Michael Hidetoshi Mori, Nicole Lizée, OCADU, Perryn Leech, RCM, Royal Conservatory of Music, RUR A Torrent of Light, Simon Wynberg, Sweeney Todd, Tafelmusik, Talk is Free Theatre, Tapestry Opera, The Lion Heart, TIFT, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, TSO, Wajdi Mouawad, Yuja Wang | Leave a comment

There’s a place for us: in Scarborough

Posted on January 3, 2023 by barczablog

I’m thinking about two films I saw recently. Last week I finally saw Spielberg’s West Side Story. One of the songs in that film is the lens through which I viewed today’s film: Scarborough. In the 1961 film and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Anna Claire Beitel, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Hernandez, Conor Casey, Crave, Elvis, gentrification, Rich Williamson, Rita Moreno, Rob Teehan, Scarborough, Shasha Nakhai, Steven Spielberg, Strictly Ballroom, West Side Story | Leave a comment

A Blue Christmas pointing me to Elvis’s redemption

Posted on December 26, 2022 by barczablog

The recent Saturday Night Live hosted by Austin Butler persuaded me to watch the recent biography of Elvis Presley, starring Butler. As we watched, Erika pointed to the similarity between Butler and Elvis, two men who both lost their mother … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Popular music & culture | Tagged Austin Butler, Blue Christmas, Cecily Strong, Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis, Elvis Presley, Forrest Gump, Gabor Maté, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Moulin Rouge, saturday night live, Strictly Ballroom, The Great Gatsby, Tom Hanks | 10 Comments

Profoundly Creative Requiem for a Gumshoe

Posted on November 26, 2022 by barczablog

The body count is higher than any superhero movie. But there’s no CGI, no fancy effects. Your imagination is engaged as never before. It may scare you, seeing so much death and contemplating the end of the world in Eldritch … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Dylan Trowbridge, Eldritch Theatre, Eric Woolfe, Gareth Crew, Lisa Norton, Mairi Babb, Melanie McNeill, Ragnarok, Raymond Chandler, Red Sandcastle Theatre, Requiem for a Gumshoe, Verne Good | 3 Comments

Popular Tchaikovsky at the TSO

Posted on November 24, 2022 by barczablog

Handel speaks from beyond the grave to remind musicians how he helps pay the rent in a meme. Ballet companies owe Tchaikovsky a similar debt, when families flock to the theatre for The Nutcracker. Popularity can be problematic when it … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Popular music & culture, Reviews | Tagged Dalia Stasevska, George Frideric Handel, Glenda Jackson, Nutcracker, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovky, Sergei Babayan, The Music Lovers | Leave a comment