Category Archives: Music and musicology

Mozart Forever Young @261

Posted on January 12, 2017 by barczablog

To hear and see the Toronto Symphony Concert tonight was to be confronted with some ageless questions about age. Mozart, that avatar of youthful brilliance, is indestructible, no matter how he’s played. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear what the … Continue reading →

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Mysterious Satie: Socrate, Hannigan and de Leeuw

Posted on January 7, 2017 by barczablog

People may think they know you.  They can have expectations of you, and be surprised when you don’t behave in the usual way.  I don’t like being boxed in, stereotyped by old friends who think they know me better than … Continue reading →

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Fialkowska: Schubert’s Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted on December 30, 2016 by barczablog

This review has had a long gestation. But let me say first, Schubert is not usually understood as any sort of mystery, and maybe that’s a problem. When I open my Schubert impromptus or sonatas, having heard others play these … Continue reading →

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The mysterious politics of the TSO

Posted on December 23, 2016 by barczablog

Why a series of pieces with the word “mystery”? Sometimes a person may feel clueless. There are times when I feel satisfied with myself and my abilities. I go to a concert or watch a production in a theatre, and come … Continue reading →

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All’s Well in Messiahville

Posted on December 16, 2016 by barczablog

Toronto is known for a few things. We’re a very knowledgeable hockey town, even if that’s often been a special kind of torture. We’re possibly the most genuinely multi-cultural city in the world, embracing all colours of the rainbow, including … Continue reading →

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Two different takes on Bach: Busoni vs Brahms

Posted on December 14, 2016 by barczablog

Anthologies tend to be a mixed bag. I’m quite partial to a Schirmer collection of 26 Bach piano transcriptions by an assortment of great composers. It has its strengths and weaknesses. I am not particularly inspired by what Saint-Saëns did … Continue reading →

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Leon Fleisher: My Nine Lives

Posted on December 11, 2016 by barczablog

I escaped into another world, a place populated by famous musicians. You may remember Leon Fleisher as an American pianist. I recall him for performances that were usually my favourite versions of piano concerti, usually paired with Conductor George Szell … Continue reading →

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Shore’s Fellowship

Posted on December 3, 2016 by barczablog

The Toronto Symphony, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, The Canadian Children’s Opera Company in partnership with tiff presented a concert performance of Howard Shore’s score for The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of Peter Jackson’s Tolkien films. If you think … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Tyler Duncan: Handel’s Messiah

Posted on November 29, 2016 by barczablog

Canadian baritone Tyler Duncan has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, the Spoleto Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, Pacific Opera Victoria; and Princeton Festival. Duncan’s concerts include Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the American Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony, Berlioz L’enfance … Continue reading →

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Sir Andrew Davis’s big beautiful Messiah: on Chandos

Posted on November 26, 2016 by barczablog

Last year the Toronto Symphony revived a new concert edition of Handel’s Messiah, first heard in 2010, created by their conductor laureate Sir Andrew Davis. At the time of the December 2015 concerts I declared that I wanted to hear … Continue reading →

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