Category Archives: Music and musicology

Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique from the Toronto Symphony

Posted on May 8, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight was entirely an orchestral night for the Toronto Symphony. No concerti, no soloists, just the virtuoso players of the TSO in two big works, one a world premiere. As Gustavo Gimeno suggested in his program note, tonight’s pieces “examine … Continue reading →

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Scarborough Philharmonic season finale

Posted on May 4, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight’s concluding concert of Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2024-25 season is like a perfect mirror, as I reflect on questions of nationalism, artistic leadership and approaches to programming. This concert was the concluding evening of Linda Rogers’ tenure as the Executive … Continue reading →

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Soundstreams’ Garden of Vanished Pleasures on a dark Toronto weekend

Posted on April 27, 2025 by barczablog

In 2021 the COVID pandemic disrupted the plans by Soundstreams to present their original production Garden of Vanished Pleasures, a music-theatre work about Derek Jarman, the gay activist, film-maker & poet who died of AIDS related complications in 1994, devised … Continue reading →

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Celebración hispana from Gimeno, Gomyo & TSO

Posted on April 26, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight is the first of three voyages into the heart of the hispanic as imagined in music, guided by Toronto Symphony Music Director Gustavo Gimeno, a program to be repeated Saturday and Sunday that feels like a genuine celebration. While … Continue reading →

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Yuja Wang plays Tchaikovsky with the Toronto Symphony

Posted on April 17, 2025 by barczablog

I have never seen Roy Thomson Hall as full as it was tonight, Wednesday April 16th. They had a cop directing the cars out of the underground parking garage: because so many people came to see Yuja Wang play the … Continue reading →

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Missa Solemnis from Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony

Posted on April 5, 2025 by barczablog

Friday April 4th the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir conducted by Jean-Sébastien Vallée presented Beethoven’s glorious Missa Solemnis to a partially – full Roy Thomson Hall. The Missa Solemnis is a perfect showcase for JS and his impeccable baton work leading this … Continue reading →

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TSO, Angela Hewitt & Marta Gardolińska

Posted on March 27, 2025 by barczablog

I went home satisfied from tonight’s Toronto Symphony concert, a program including some items exactly as expected plus a few surprises. For an evening titled “Angela Hewitt Plays Mozart” it was a very solid collaboration between the famous pianist and … Continue reading →

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Talking to Jennifer King about Souvenance, her new piano album

Posted on March 26, 2025 by barczablog

Spirited and sensitive, Jennifer King is a versatile pianist who enjoys exploring the world of classical music in the 21st century through the presentation of new music and the revisiting of past musical gems. She has established herself as a sought-after talent … Continue reading →

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Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra’s Joy

Posted on March 23, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight Erika joined me to hear the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert featuring joyful works by Beethoven and Bruckner. No wonder they titled it “Joy!” Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, William Shatner, and Dave Keon were all born on … Continue reading →

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Gustavo Gimeno wears his heart on his sleeve in Mahler’s Fourth with Toronto Symphony and Anna Prohaska

Posted on March 21, 2025 by barczablog

Last night the Toronto Symphony celebrated an honour to their music director Gustavo Gimeno from his homeland, while affirming connections to Toronto, his new home. Gimeno was appointed Commander of the Order of Civil Merit (Encomienda de la Orden del … Continue reading →

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