Category Archives: Music and musicology

Creature to Creature

Posted on March 17, 2014 by barczablog

Talisker Players’ program themed around the animal kingdom titled “Creature to Creature” was better than expected. I should explain, because I love Talisker.  Why lower expectations?  Classical programs using music about animals usually condescend. Such compositions –however excellent—are relegated to … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

10 Questions for Mary McGeer

Posted on March 7, 2014 by barczablog

Mary McGeer is Artistic Director of Talisker Players Chamber Music, General Manager and principal violist of the Talisker Players Choral Music Orchestra, also principal violist of the Huronia Symphony, and performs with a wide variety of other ensembles in and … Continue reading →

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Adams & Thomalla at RBA

Posted on March 5, 2014 by barczablog

Today’s free concert at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre was an opportunity to hear composers John Adams and Hans Thomalla.  We heard them speak and then we heard their music. The RBA is not to be confused with an ideal concert … Continue reading →

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Gentle Dafne

Posted on February 26, 2014 by barczablog

The Dafne I refer to is not that of Jacopo Peri from 1598, and considered the first opera (for those who might want to make that kind of statement), but Marco da Gagliano’s 1608 setting, also using Ottavio Rinuccini’s libretto. … Continue reading →

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ATMA Orlando

Posted on February 23, 2014 by barczablog

I’ve been listening to a recording that deserves recognition.  It’s an ATMA Classics recording of Handel’s Orlando.  Is anyone anywhere recording operas anymore?  Perhaps the question sounds a bit silly, but the health of the classical music industry has been … Continue reading →

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Saul

Posted on February 22, 2014 by barczablog

The biblical story of Saul is one of the most psychologically complex stories in the Old Testament.  Young David is a humble shepherd brought to soothe the troubled spirit of King Saul with his harp-playing.  Later David surprises everyone by … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Leslie Ann Bradley

Posted on January 8, 2014 by barczablog

Canadian “Soprano Leslie Ann Bradley brings the stage to life whenever she sets foot into the spotlight” (Toronto Star).  Praised as a “vocal and dramatic powerhouse”, her 2013/14 season is filled with debuts and return engagements.  Her winter/spring is infused … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

10 questions for Stephen Lord

Posted on December 31, 2013 by barczablog

Identified by Opera News as one of the “25 Most Powerful Names in US Opera”, Stephen Lord is a conductor known for his sensitive handling of singers.  In my review of April’s Canadian Opera Company production of Lucia di Lammermoor … Continue reading →

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Born on December 22nd

Posted on December 21, 2013 by barczablog

If you’re a child born on December 22nd you might grow up perpetually frustrated because of the proximity of your birthday to Christmas.  There you are, early in the sign of Capricorn, and everybody’s celebrating someone else’s birth instead of … Continue reading →

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Singing the Earth: The Old & The New

Posted on December 6, 2013 by barczablog

Today is a day of contrasts.  The morning paper brought more revelations about Toronto’s Mayor, while this afternoon’s social media story was the passing of Nelson Mandela.  While Mandela seems to embody the possibilities for heroic activism nothing suggests that  … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment