Category Archives: Music and musicology

Jan Lisiecki plays Beethoven concerti

Posted on February 6, 2025 by barczablog

I’m going to stop calling Jan Lisiecki a young pianist. I just looked up his birthday, saw that on March 23rd he turns 30. But it’s not about the numbers. Tonight I heard the first of two concerts from Jan … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Beethoven, classical-music, Franz Josef Haydn, Jan Lisiecki, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart, Peter Oundjian, piano, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Symphony, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 2 Comments

Varieties of virtuosity: an interview with Piano Lunaire founder Adam Sherkin

Posted on February 2, 2025 by barczablog

Last month I was delighted to discover Adam Sherkin at a free noon-hour concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, a brilliant pianist & composer I probably should have heard sooner and founder of Piano Lunaire. I jumped at the chance … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Barbara Hannigan, Boris Lysenko, Brian Current, Canadian Opera Company, Franz Josef Haydn, Franz Liszt, Julien Bilodeau, La Reine-Garçon, Leon Fleisher, opera, paraphrase, piano, Piano Lunaire, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Stewart Goodyear, Thomas Adès, Udo Steingraeber, virtuosity, virtuoso | Leave a comment

Paraphrases on La Reine-garçon from Sherkin & Bilodeau

Posted on January 24, 2025 by barczablog

Today was my first time attending a noon-hour Canadian Opera Company concert in a long time, tempted by a few magic words: a world premiere performance of excerpts from a suite of paraphrases composed by Julien Bilodeau, whose opera La … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Canadian Opera Company, Gyorgy Ligeti, Julien Bilodeau, La Reine-Garçon, paraphrase, piano, Piano Lunaire | 1 Comment

Auspicious beginning to (unofficial) TSO Beethoven festival

Posted on January 23, 2025 by barczablog

This week the Toronto Symphony offer the first in a series of concerts featuring the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the most popular and best loved of all classical composers. Wednesday night’s performances were a brilliant start. No … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, My mother, Reviews | Tagged Beethoven, classical-music, Jan Lisiecki, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Robert Schumann, subito con forza, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, TSO, Unsuk Chin | Leave a comment

Year(s) of Czech Music at the piano

Posted on December 17, 2024 by barczablog

2024 is the year of Czech Music, a celebration that’s held every decade in the year ending in 4. Speaking of ending, this year’s instalment is swiftly coming to a close, a year that saw the Canadian Opera Company present … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, My mother, University life | Tagged Ack Värmeland, Adagietto, Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, Bohemia, classical, classical-music, dumka, Edward Johnson Building Library, Franz Liszt, furiant, Gustav Mahler, Harvey Olnick, James Ehnes, Jan Lisiecki, John Holland, Jussi Björling, Ma vlast, music, orchestra, Otto Singer, piano, polka, Robert Keller, skocna, Slavonic Dances, sousedska, The Moldau, Year of Czech Music, Zubin Mehta | Leave a comment

The other Christmas Oratorio from Tafelmusik

Posted on November 25, 2024 by barczablog

Excuse me for this preamble, pondering Christmas oratorios. Toronto is Messiah town, as musical ensembles large (Toronto Symphony Dec 17-22 at Roy Thomson Hall or Tafelmusik Dec 20 & 21, plus the Singalong December 22nd) or small (Opera by Request … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology | Tagged Bach, Cecilia Duarte, Charles Daniels, Charlotte Nediger, choral-music, Friedrich Nietzsche, George Frideric Handel, Hélène Brunet, Ivars Taurins, Jeanne Lamon Hall, Jesse Blumberg, Johann Sebastian Bach, Messiah, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, The Birth of Tragedy | 3 Comments

Fire & Ice: Shostakovich, Sibelius and TSO specialties

Posted on November 18, 2024 by barczablog

When an artist tells you their goals & objectives one should listen. Gustavo Gimeno’s “European Soundscapes” essay in the current Toronto Symphony program gives us some great clues as to what we should expect from the orchestra. No they are … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Ana Sokolovic, classical-music, Dmitri Shostakovich, Gustavo Gimeno, Jean Sibelius, Julian Rachlin, Mozart, music, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

Stunning serendipity as John Adams Returns

Posted on November 7, 2024 by barczablog

The concert is titled “John Adams Returns”. Toronto Symphony seemed prescient in welcoming the composer this week to conduct a program including some of his own works. It’s uncanny. By the serendipity of the calendar tonight’s concert had a special … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Anna Prohaska, Claude Debussy, John Adams, Maurice Ravel, Nixon in China, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Symphony | 1 Comment

Nabucco not as written

Posted on October 23, 2024 by barczablog

I had another chance to see the Canadian Opera Company’s Nabucco last Saturday, this time using my subscription seat. The first time courtesy of the COC comp ticket I watched and listened as a reviewer, while this time it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged a cappella, Canadian Opera Company, Giuseppe Verdi, Nabucco, Paolo Carignani, Sandra Horst | 2 Comments

A natural high from Tafelmusik’s Feast of Unknowns

Posted on October 19, 2024 by barczablog

Tafelmusik have outdone themselves this time. This concert titled Feast for the Senses was an exploration of new flavours presented with the assistance of Amandine Beyer, guest director and violin soloist, a genuine feast. Baroque for most people means Bach … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Amandine Beyer, Charlotte Nediger, Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Feast for the Senses, Georg Muffat, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jeanne Lamon Hall, Lucas Harris, Michael Unterman, Michel Richard de Lalande, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra | Leave a comment