Category Archives: Music and musicology

Toronto Symphony play Béla Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin

Posted on April 12, 2026 by barczablog

Toronto Symphony recently released their third Harmonia Mundi live recording, captured from performances 21-23 November 2024 at Roy Thomson Hall, featuring two works by Béla Bartók (1881-1945) plus a piece by Canadian Emilie Cecilia LeBel. Roy Thomson Hall’s acoustics seem … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Bela Bartok, Emilie LeBel, expressionist, Gustav Mahler, Gustavo Gimeno, Igor Stravinsky, Menyhért Lengyel, modernist, Olivier Messiaen, Pulcinella, sediments, Symbolist, The Fairy's Kiss, The Miraculous Mandarin, Toronto Symphony, TSO | 2 Comments

Tafelmusik present Influencers without shoehorns or pigeonholes

Posted on April 11, 2026 by barczablog

Influencers is the anachronistic title for Tafelmusik’s concert program this week at Jeanne Lamon Hall. I’m reminded of the way Richard Strauss put Viennese waltzes into Der Rosenkavalier, a modern dance-form that didn’t really fit the time of the story, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Baz Luhrmann, Buxtehude, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, CPE Bach, Der Rosenkavalier, Eroica, Esterhaza, Esterhazy, JC Bach, Jeanne Lamon Hall, Johann Christian Bach, Joseph Bologne, Joseph Haydn, Keiran Campbell, Moulin Rouge, Patrick Jordan, Rachel Podger, Richard Strauss, Shunske Sato, Tafelmusik, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 1 Comment

Room of Keys with David James Brock and Adam Sherkin playing Béla Bartók

Posted on April 10, 2026 by barczablog

Room of Keys is a sort of sacred mystery play. I don’t throw that M word out there in the spirit of a whodunnit so much as the old sacred pre-Shakespearean plays that would stage a small Biblical episode. No … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Bela Bartok, Bluebeard's Castle, classical-music, David James Brock, miracle play, mystery play, NanoSTAGE, pianist, piano, Piano Lunaire, RBA, Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Robert Lepage, Room of Keys, Tom Diamond | 1 Comment

Anticipating David James Brock’s upcoming Room of Keys: an interview

Posted on April 2, 2026 by barczablog

Room of Keys is David James Brock’s one act play, created with Adam Sherkin of Piano Lunaire, inspired by Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle (1918). It’s natural that a mysterious symbolist play invites exploration. As with the piano paraphrases of La … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Arnold Schoenberg, Bela Bartok, Bluebeard's Castle, classical-music, David James Brock, erwartung, La Reine-Garçon, music, NanoSTAGE, opera, piano, Piano Lunaire, Robert Lepage, Room of Keys, Timothee Chalamet, writing | Leave a comment

French Meditations take Scarborough Philharmonic to new heights

Posted on March 29, 2026 by barczablog

When someone improves, you may wonder why. Listening to Scarborough Philharmonic’s “French Meditations” concert Saturday night I wondered: is it the leadership, is it the players, is it their choice of music? whatever factors came into play, this was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Alex Toskov, Alexander Cappellazzo, Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles Gounod, classical-music, Eric Abramowitz, French Meditations, Geoffrey Butler, Jules Massenet, Lauren Estey Jovanovic, Maurice Ravel, Michael Robert-Broder, Ronald Royer, Salvation Army Scarborough Citadel, Samson et Delilah, Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, SPO, Thaïs, Toronto Choral Society | Leave a comment

JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and JS Vallée

Posted on March 27, 2026 by barczablog

Wednesday March 25th I attended the concluding performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion at Koerner Hall by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the TMC Baroque Orchestra led by Jean-Sébastien Vallée. This massive work is the perfect celebration of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Allyson McHardy, Christianity, Christopher Bagan, classical-music, Cristina Zacharias, Eric Whitacre, Felix Deak, Felix Mendelssohn, history, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, JS Bach, Koerner Hall, Metropolitan United Church, music, Nicholas Nicolaidis, St Matthew Passion, Stephanie Martin, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir | 2 Comments

Christopher Bagan, busy keyboardist & scholar talks about his new orchestration of Pelléas et Mélisande

Posted on March 14, 2026 by barczablog

Christopher Bagan wears a lot of hats, as keyboardist, conductor, professor at University of Toronto, chamber musician, basso continuo specialist, coach & repetiteur. In the immediate future: Christopher joins Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s presentations of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion March 24th-25th. … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Arnold Schönberg, Baroque, Christopher Bagan, classical, classical-music, Claude Debussy, continuo, Felix Deak, François Couperin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Oldengarm, music, Opera Atelier, Pelléas et Mélisande, piano, St Matthew Passion, Toronto Bach Festival, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir | Leave a comment

A Bach Celebration with Tafelmusik Chamber Choir & Ivars Taurins

Posted on March 13, 2026 by barczablog

Thursday night was the first performance by Tafelmusik of A Bach Celebration at Jeanne Lamon Hall. The explanation was that this is an attempt to present a curated series of works that less well-known, instead of the usual canonical pieces, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged art, art music, classical-music, Ivars Taurins, James Reese, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, Jeanne Lamon Hall, Johann Sebastian Bach, JS Bach, liturgy, music, Myriam Leblanc, Tafelmusik, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Trinity-St Paul's Centre, writing | Leave a comment

Singsational Bach workshop with Jean-Sébastien Vallée

Posted on March 7, 2026 by barczablog

I know Jean-Sébastien Vallée as the artistic director of Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, which sometimes means he’s preparing the TMC for their work with another conductor, sometimes he’s the one leading the big ensemble, as he did for the Brahms German … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Dr. Irene Gregorio, Gustav Mahler, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, Johannes Brahms, JS Bach, St John Passion, St Mark Passion, St Matthew Passion, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony, Yorkminster Park Baptist Church | 1 Comment

Diapente Presents Time’s Eldest Son Celebrating 400 Years of John Dowland

Posted on March 1, 2026 by barczablog

Yes it’s a humongous headline but it’s a perfect description of the concert I witnessed Saturday night at the Heliconian Hall, and the first time I’ve seen a performance by Diapente Renaissance Vocal Quintet. Felix Deak joined Diapente for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Alessandro Orologio, Alexander Cappellazzo, Charles Tessier, Claude le Jeune, Diapente Renaissance Vocal Quintet, Felix Deak, Guillaume Tessier, Jane Fingler, John Dowland, Jonathan Stuchbery, Luca Marenzio, Martin Gomes, Peter Koniers, Thomas Tomkins | Leave a comment