Category Archives: Music and musicology

Thoughts of youth and mentorship open Toronto Symphony’s 2015-16 season

Posted on September 25, 2015 by barczablog

One of my favourite things about Toronto Symphony concerts is the steady stream of gratitude in the speeches that usually precede performances.  While opening night may be weighed down with ritual, the language was sincere, tonight’s season opener at Roy … Continue reading →

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TSO – tiff Vertigo: so old, so new

Posted on September 21, 2015 by barczablog

I saw precisely one film at tiff this year, a movie conceived when I was a toddler. While you might know it as “Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo”, I would be more inclined to call it “Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo”, especially when given … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | 1 Comment

Tafelmusik ask the forbidden question

Posted on September 18, 2015 by barczablog

If tonight’s Tafelmusik concert at Jeanne Lamon Hall (Trinity –St Paul’s Centre), with Mireille Lebel mezzo-soprano, and led by violinist Rodolfo Richter is any indication, I think we’ll see a lot more of him in future concerts. Richter doesn’t just … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | 5 Comments

10 Questions for Adrianne Pieczonka: beyond the aria

Posted on September 15, 2015 by barczablog

Adrianne Pieczonka is one of Toronto’s treasures, a fabulous ambassador for Canada when she sings abroad. I first encountered her in Atom Egoyan’s Die Walkure with the Canadian Opera Company, a vocal and dramatic interpretation so compelling that it was as though … Continue reading →

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

Scary music in Theatres of Terror

Posted on August 25, 2015 by barczablog

Halloween is still several weeks away but already terror is more than a gleam in the eye of some. Opera By Request are presenting Carl Maria von Weber’s gothic masterpiece Der Freischutz on Friday Sept 18th.  There will be no … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | 3 Comments

Karita Mattila at Koerner Hall: personalities on parade

Posted on August 8, 2015 by barczablog

There was more drama in this recital than any recital I can ever recall.  Karita Mattila assumed several roles, in several distinct voices in her concert tonight at Koerner Hall in Toronto as part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | 2 Comments

SOLT’s Der Vampyr

Posted on August 1, 2015 by barczablog

It might seem dangerous to see Marschner’s opera Der Vampyr (The Vampire) on a full moon, but we lived to tell the tale. Der Vampyr was staged by Summer Opera Lyric Theatre and Research Centre (aka “SOLT”).  While SOLT offers … Continue reading →

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DIVE preview mesmerizing

Posted on July 31, 2015 by barczablog

I attended the preview performance of DIVE tonight, a new work from The Mermaid Collective: Nik Beeson, Alex Fallis, Fides Krucker and Richard Sanger. It’s quite erotic & funny, a little bit political and a powerful evocation of remembered passion. … Continue reading →

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Der Vampyr and the birth of horror

Posted on July 29, 2015 by barczablog

I’ve been immersed in blood for the past few weeks. No I am not training to be a butcher or a surgeon.  None of this gore is real. I’ll be teaching a new course at the Royal Conservatory of Music … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Leave a comment

Mussolini vs The Mermaid: what little girls –and boys—dream

Posted on July 27, 2015 by barczablog

Thursday night is the preview performance of DIVE: Odes for Lighea, Nik Beeson’s new opera at The Array Space. DIVE is based on Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s short story The Professor and the Siren. That’s “siren” as in mermaid. I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics | 1 Comment