Category Archives: Interviews

Questions for Alexander Hajek

Posted on January 19, 2024 by barczablog

I heard baritone Alexander Hajek singing at the Toronto Vocal Showcase 1.0 in August. He sang well. Full disclosure? I grew up accompanying my brother baritone Peter Barcza. I tend to be harshest with baritone voices ever since. So it … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Alexander Hajek, Claire Elise Harris, Da Ponte, Danie Friesen, Das Rheingold, Ernani, Giuseppe Verdi, Mozart, Opera Revue, Richard Wagner, Toronto Vocal Showcase 1.0, Warhammer | Leave a comment

Questions for Ryan Hofman, Singer and Outreach Officer

Posted on January 10, 2024 by barczablog

I was in the lobby of the Alumni Theatre waiting to get my tickets for Kyle McDonald’s Conan and the Stone of Kelior in May 2022. Ryan Hofman boldly introduced himself, telling me he’d encountered my brother at UBC when … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Andrew Ager, Burlington Performing Arts Centre, James Westman, New Opera Lyra, NOL, Opera York, Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, Ryan Hofman, SOLO, Southern Ontario Lyric Opera | Leave a comment

Adam Klein reflects on his operatic career (part 2): Peter Gelb, Robert Lepage and more

Posted on January 6, 2024 by barczablog

The reason I interviewed Adam Klein is interest: in his career, his opinions, and anything I might learn. I am a fan. Adam sang in the Lepage Ring, has been in a lot of shows at the Metropolitan Opera and elsewhere. … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Adam Klein, agism, Benjamin Zander, Das Rheingold, Gandhi, Leonardo da Vinci, Little Match Girl, Loge, lookism, Mark Down, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera High Definition Broadcast, Peter Gelb, Phelim Mc Dermott, Richard Fredericks, Richard Wagner, Robert Lepage, Satyagraha, The Nose, William Kentridge, Yaryshkin | 4 Comments

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

Questions for Andrew Ager about New Opera Lyra, The Gothic Trilogy and The Mummy

Posted on October 23, 2023 by barczablog

New Opera Lyra (NOL) completes The Gothic Trilogy with the world premiere of Andrew Ager’s The Mummy on October 27th. This follows the premieres of Frankenstein in 2019 and Dracula last season. Andrew is co-artistic director of NOL, where his … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Andrew Ager, Dracula, Frankenstein, John Scott, Matthew Larkin, New Opera Lyra, Opera Lyra, Ryan Hofman, Scrooge’s Christmas, Suzanne Bassett, The Gothic Trilogy, The Mummy | Leave a comment

An all-female Magic Flute from OperOttawa

Posted on October 15, 2023 by barczablog

I heard that OperOttawa are presenting Mozart’s The Magic Flute, an opera I’ve heard called misogynistic, in November with a cast that’s 100% female! I had to ask their their artistic director Norman E Brown about it. Barczablog: Do the … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Anna Hejnar, Beverly McArthur, Carole Portelance, Erinne-Colleen Laurin, First Baptist Church, Kathleen Radke, Norman E Brown, OperOttawa, The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

Interviewing Alexander Cappellazzo – Apocryphonia and Diapente Renaissance Vocal Quintet

Posted on September 17, 2023 by barczablog

I first encountered Alexander Cappellazzo in the title role of L’Amant anonyme by Joseph Bologne for Voicebox- Opera in Concert back in March of this year, when he sang “a passage in the first scene that contains an obscene number … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Alberto Ginastera, Alexander Cappellazzo, Apocryphonia, Diapente Renaissance Vocal Quintet, Jane Fingler, Jonathan Stuchbery, Martin Gomes, Narmina Afandiyeva, Peter Koniers, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Thera Barclay | Leave a comment

Opera by Request’s William Shookhoff

Posted on May 6, 2023 by barczablog

Aside from family William Shookhoff aka Bill aka “Shookie” is the person I’ve known longest of anyone I’ve mentioned on this blog. In fact I interviewed him back in 1976, for the University of Toronto’s student newspaper. And so forty-six … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | 1 Comment

I love the smell of gasoline: questions for Claren Grosz

Posted on March 8, 2023 by barczablog

The description of Claren Grosz’s new show caught my eye. I love the smell of gasoline dives into Western alienation, the Canadian oil and gas machine and what it all means in the face of an environmental apocalypse. Her title … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Interviews, Politics | Tagged Aki Studio, Alberta, Claren Grosz, environmental apocalypse, I love the smell of gasoline, Kurt Vonnegut, Pencil Kit Productions, Rick Mercer Report, Western alienation | Leave a comment