Category Archives: Music and musicology

Composers dissing composers

Posted on March 21, 2022 by barczablog

Earlier today I commented on John Gilks’ post about The Lion Heart a new opera by Corey Arnold and Kyle McDonald that received its world premiere in a semi-staged production this past weekend. Near the end of his review John … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Conversations with Tom Service, Corey Arnold, Elektra, Felix Mendelssohn, Giacomo Meyerbeer, John Gilks, Kyle McDonald, Opera and Drama, operaramblings, Pelleas et Melisande, Richard Wagner, The Lion Heart, Thomas Ades | 6 Comments

Kindred Spirits Orchestra– Enigma Variations

Posted on March 13, 2022 by barczablog

Last night I heard Kindred Spirits Orchestra playing at the Richmond Hill Centre, led by their conductor Kristian Alexander with piano soloist Naomi Wong. From outside it looks nice enough.. I forget the beauty of this space, until I enter. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Edward Elgar, Frederic Chopin, Kindred Spirits Orchestra, Kristian Alexander, Lieutenant Kije Suite, Naomi Wong, Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, Sergei Prokofiev | Leave a comment

The Princess Bride at the TSO

Posted on March 5, 2022 by barczablog

The Princess Bride is showing at Roy Thomson Hall, accompanied by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra who play the accompaniment live. It’s the perfect film for 2022. How? It features a tyrannical villain who lies shamelessly, just like certain people we … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Fred Savage, Lucas Waldin, Mark Knopfler, Maurice Ravel, Modest Mussorgsky, Peter Falk, The Princess Bride, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

Chatting with Bruce McGillivray about the German bow, music and rehabilitation

Posted on February 28, 2022 by barczablog

After a short stay in Mt Sinai after collapsing in early September, my mother went to Bridgepoint Hospital for rehab, gradually seeking to re-cover her mobility with the help of physical therapy. The beautiful view through the window lifts patients’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Health and Nutrition, Interviews, Music and musicology, My mother, Personal ruminations & essays, Popular music & culture | Tagged Berlin Philharmonic, Bridgepoint Hospital, Bruce McGillivray, busking, French bow, German bow, Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, Martin Heinze, physical therapy, rehabilitation, Sean Bennesch, string bass | 2 Comments

Gimeno, Schumann’s Spring, Pal’s Scylla at the TSO

Posted on February 6, 2022 by barczablog

What an unusual night for the Toronto Symphony. It’s 11:20 pm as I begin to write this, recalling the headline on CP24 (a picture I snapped at 4:33 pm) about Toronto’s downtown, that says “BREAKING: Traffic is gridlocked in much … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged CP24, Gordon Wolfe, Gustavo Gimeno, Harold in Italy, Hector Berlioz, Jordan Pal, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Roy Thomson Hall, Scylla, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

The Music of Our Time: John Williams at 90

Posted on February 4, 2022 by barczablog

It can be awe-inspiring to look at a composer’s lifetime of work. We know that JS Bach composed over 1,000 pieces in his 65 years, while Mozart, who lived only 35 years, composed perhaps 600 pieces. Yet we only care … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology | Tagged Boston Pops, Bruce Springsteen, ET the Extra-terrestrial, Fiddler on the Roof, film music, film-score, Franz Liszt, Jaws, John Williams, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Rossini, Schindler's List, Sergei Rachmaninoff, star wars, Supertramp, Taylor Swift, The Beatles | 1 Comment

Being There revisited, with a little help from Mahler

Posted on January 16, 2022 by barczablog

I could use any old film I watched on television for the point I’m about to make. Last night Erika and I watched Being There (1979). Hal Ashby’s film is based on a best-selling novel from 1970 by Jerzy Kosiński … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Popular music & culture, Psychology and perception | Tagged Being There, Hal Ashby, Jerzy Kosiński, Peter Sellers | Leave a comment

2021 TSO Messiah

Posted on December 16, 2021 by barczablog

As Kevin Bazzana observes in his Toronto Symphony Orchestra program note, “there is no one definitive Messiah.” It’s an ironic turn of phrase considering the religious implications one might give that phrase. Indeed when I look at the bizarre mockeries … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Anna-Sophie Neher, George Frideric Handel, Messiah, Rihab Chaieb, Roy Thomson Hall, Simon Rivard, Spencer Britten, Stephen Hegedus, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 2 Comments

Confronting mortality: AtG /COC Mozart Requiem

Posted on December 4, 2021 by barczablog

The pandemic is simultaneously new in its requirements and yet old in once again reminding us of our ultimate destiny. Modern science may blind us to history’s lessons. The images on the tray in this picture come from Täby kyrka, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Andrew Haji, Canadian Opera Company, Ensemble Studio, Joel Ivany, Johannes Debus, Marion Newman, Midori Marsh, Scarborough Bluffs, Vartan Gabrielian, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

A Tafelmusik Christmas

Posted on November 26, 2021 by barczablog

Do you remember how, at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life (that great film encouraging us to be grateful, to appreciate what we have): George Bailey celebrates and appreciates a return to normalcy after the end of his nightmare? … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Domenick Argento, George Bailey, It's a Wonderful Life, Ivars Taurins, Jeanne Lamon Hall, Tafelmusik | Leave a comment