Category Archives: Music and musicology

TOT Gypsy Baron

Posted on December 29, 2019 by barczablog

The Toronto Operetta Theatre opened their new production of Johann Strauss Jr’s The Gypsy Baron tonight at the Jane Mallett Theatre with a full house in attendance for the first of five performances. It’s a very uneven production of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged A night at the opera, Beste Kalender, Daniela Agostino, Derek Bate, Giuseppe Verdi, Il Trovatore, Jane Mallett Theatre, Johann Strauss, Karen Bojti, Meghan Lindsay, Michael Barrett, Roma, The Gypsy Baron, The Marx Brothers, Toronto Operetta Theatre | Leave a comment

Tribal Messiah

Posted on December 22, 2019 by barczablog

I’m trying to find the right word, so please bear with me. For someone who goes to see concerts & theatre more often than most people, you might never guess that I’m sometimes frustrated. My mantra is “I’m a lucky … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Alexander Shelley, George Frideric Handel, Ivars Taurins, Lucile Richardot, Margaret Rood, Mozart, Peter Harvey, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Thomas Hobbs, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 1 Comment

TSO Messiah via Mozart

Posted on December 21, 2019 by barczablog

Tonight I heard something different from the Toronto Symphony. The TSO’s annual Messiah in Roy Thomson Hall with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir may seem like a ritual, but it actually varies from year to year. Every time we get different … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alexander Shelley, David Fallis, Emily D'Angelo, George Frideric Handel, Isaiah Bell, Jane Archibald, Messiah, Mozart, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Roy Thomson Hall, Russell Braun, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 1 Comment

Toronto Consort: Schütz’s Christmas Story

Posted on December 14, 2019 by barczablog

Looking for an alternative to the Messiah & Handel? Look no further than Toronto Consort’s current program, Schütz’s Christmas Story, curated by David Fallis. You will hear stunningly beautiful music that you’ve probably never encountered before. Schütz is new to … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | 4 Comments

How to Singalong

Posted on December 13, 2019 by barczablog

I don’t presume to know how one does the Singalong Messiah thing. I am no expert. [morning after emendation… There are different sorts of experts. Singers? organists, conductors, musicians? or the textual scholars, people who really know Handel? I avoid … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Press Releases and Announcements | Tagged English Baroque Soloists, George Frideric Handel, Ivars Taurins, John Eliot Gardiner, Messiah, Monteverdi Choir, Novello, Roy Thomson Hall, Singalong, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra | 2 Comments

Melancholiac at Music Gallery

Posted on December 8, 2019 by barczablog

The best works of theatre or music function as advocacy for the creator. A good production of a play, a great performance of a song, should persuade you of the importance of the work & its author. Melancholiac: The Music … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Adam Paolozza, Bad New Days, Gregory Oh, John Millard, Music Gallery, Patricia O'Callaghan | 1 Comment

Figaro’s Wedding 2019

Posted on December 4, 2019 by barczablog

In 2013 Against the Grain offered the first of their “transladaptations” of one of the trilogy of da Ponte-Mozart operas, Figaro’s Wedding. Tonight AtG premiered something we might call a revival of the work, with a number of intriguing differences, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Alexandra Smither, Bruno Roy, Da Ponte, Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, Gregory Finney, Jacques Arsenault, Joel Ivany, Lauren Eberwein, Maria Soulis, Miriam Khalil, Mozart, Phillip Addis, Topher Mokrzewski, transladaptation | Leave a comment

TSO All Tchaikovsky

Posted on November 29, 2019 by barczablog

I came to hear Tchaikovsky at the Toronto Symphony and was rewarded with one of the most brilliant performances of his violin concerto that I’ve ever heard. The program at Roy Thomson Hall featured three works by the popular Russian … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Daniel Lozakovich, Simon Rivard, Tchaikovsky, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

Questions about Melancholiac: the Music of Scott Walker

Posted on November 28, 2019 by barczablog

Long ago I stumbled upon Scott Walker, via a cassette with the hand-written inscription The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker. I remember wondering: is this for real? What may have been at least part ironic self-mockery was upon closer inspection … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Interviews, Music and musicology | Tagged Adam Paolozza, Claude Vivier, Gregory Oh, Melancholiac, Music Gallery, Patricia O'Callaghan, Scott Walker | 2 Comments

Met HD Akhnaten

Posted on November 24, 2019 by barczablog

Yesterday I watched Philip Glass’s opera Akhnaten as presented in the Metropolitan Opera’s High Definition broadcast on a big screen in Scarborough, at the same time people were watching it in many places around the world. I wish the Canadian … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Akhnaten, Canadian Opera Company, Dennis Russell Davies, Donald Palumbo, Gandhi, Karen Kamensek, Phelim McDermott, Philip Glass, Satyagraha, Tom Pye | Comments Off