Category Archives: Music and musicology

Balancing on the Edge: of…(?)

Posted on November 20, 2016 by barczablog

At Harbourfront Centre I had the pleasure of attending a christening, for Balancing on the Edge is the tender infant resulting from a romance. Thin Edge Musical Collective met A Girl in the Sky Productions. New Circus and New Music … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology | 3 Comments

Looking back across the Bridge to the Future

Posted on November 18, 2016 by barczablog

It was a concert to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution as well as the 135th Anniversary of the Birth of Béla Bartók, presented by CHAMP: the Canadian Hungarian Association for Music Performance. While the title of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Leave a comment

Naomi’s Road leads to Toronto

Posted on November 17, 2016 by barczablog

Tonight I saw Naomi’s Road, an opera with libretto by Ann Hodges & music composed by Ramona Luengen, based on a novel by Joy Kogawa, to open Tapestry Opera’s 2016-17 season. Tapestry Artistic Director explained before the show’s presentation at … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | 1 Comment

Berlin Philharmonic, Rattle, Boulez & Mahler

Posted on November 16, 2016 by barczablog

Tonight was the first of two concerts by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra presented at Roy Thomson Hall. I think this is the closest I’ve seen to “full” in the space, as every seat appeared to be occupied, and no wonder. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Leave a comment

Perlman’s Cinema Serenade: vol 1 & 2

Posted on November 14, 2016 by barczablog

You think you know someone, what they’re all about, and what they really like. That can be true of your friends, or of famous artists, where they surprise you with a hidden dimension, an unexpected interest. I thought I knew … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | Leave a comment

Ayre: counter-discursive affirmations

Posted on November 10, 2016 by barczablog

I needed that. Ayre, the piece I saw/heard just now in its noon-hour incarnation at the Canadian Opera Company’s free concert series, will be presented tonight in a fuller version by Against the Grain Theatre , but I doubt they’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | 1 Comment

Interview with James Anagnoson

Posted on November 2, 2016 by barczablog

It’s 40 years that James Anagnoson has been part of a duo with Leslie Kinton, to be celebrated in a sold-out concert Sunday November 13th at the Royal Conservatory of Music. By coincidence I happened to listen to their version … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology | Leave a comment

TSO exhibit Elfman – Burton brilliance

Posted on October 31, 2016 by barczablog

While there are still two months left in 2016 I am pretty sure that I just saw the best concert of the year, and I didn’t see it coming.  At the intermission I was musing to myself that I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | Leave a comment

All But Gone

Posted on October 29, 2016 by barczablog

When you’re ushered into the chapel for a wedding, sometimes they ask you “bride or groom?” That’s to identify where you should sit. I was thinking of that quaint custom as I came into the Berkeley Street theatre tonight for … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Leave a comment

Christophe Coin’s Eloquent Cello

Posted on October 8, 2016 by barczablog

An intermission conversation at a concert–Christophe Coin playing “The Eloquent Cello”– made a natural lead-in to Thanksgiving weekend, a reminder of the things I love about Tafelmusik baroque orchestra, for which I should be grateful.   We were discussing things of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | 3 Comments