Category Archives: Opera

Voicebox Adriana Lecouvreur

Posted on July 2, 2021 by barczablog

What is the point posting a review when the run is over? My motto is borrowed from the Hippocratic Oath, namely “above all do no harm,” if that tells you anything. Some of the voices sounded better than others, some … Continue reading →

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As my mom approaches 100

Posted on June 26, 2021 by barczablog

I must explain the reason for my previous post telling my mom’s stories yesterday: because she was born in 1921. In other words, she’s approaching her one-hundredth birthday. She has had five children although one of them died very young. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, My mother, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, University life | 7 Comments

Tales from my Mom

Posted on June 25, 2021 by barczablog

After lunch my mom sometimes tells me tales from her youth. It’s good practice to see if I can understand her Hungarian, and it’s a privilege, a glimpse of another world. ONE)There was a teacher who thought my mom’s rosy … Continue reading →

Posted in My mother, Opera | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Silent Chorus Trope: Peter Hinton and Amélie Niermeyer

Posted on June 18, 2021 by barczablog

I’m trying to wrap my head around something. It first caught my eye in Peter Hinton’s Louis Riel in the 2017 Canadian Opera Company production. Hinton added a chorus of silent witnesses to the action, lending weight to the proceedings, … Continue reading →

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Hamburg Lucia: go big or go home

Posted on June 16, 2021 by barczablog

OperaVision are making Staatsoper Hamburg’s Lucia di Lammermoor available to you for three months. Here’s how they describe it. Lucia loves Edgardo, the last heir of her family’s enemy clan. They are in danger, but Lucia refuses to betray her … Continue reading →

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Opera Atelier’s Resurrection

Posted on June 2, 2021 by barczablog

When you study theatre history one of the first things you may encounter is the quem quaeritis trope. It’s so short that I can quote it in its entirety, a tiny four line drama re-enacted at Easter in churches. Angels: … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Le Barbier de Séville à l’Opéra de Québec

Posted on May 30, 2021 by barczablog

I watched the premiere of an online concert version of Barber of Seville, available until June 12th. It’s semi-staged, meaning that you watch the cast perform the opera in formal attire, Figaro miming shaving Bartolo, the lights flashing for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Melisande and Sam

Posted on May 28, 2021 by barczablog

The picture is a bit of whimsy, Sam seeming to float with the flower. If you don’t have your glasses on (hello! That was how I took the photo), the alignment of dog + flower is much easier to do, … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Psychology and perception | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hermione Lee: Tom Stoppard A Life

Posted on May 16, 2021 by barczablog

I’m humbled reading Hermione Lee’s biography of Tom Stoppard. I was exalted by Alex Ross’s colossal Wagnerism study because I’m a typical grandiose Wagnerian, thinking I know something about the topic. Its 784 pages flew by, the book flattering my … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Politics, Popular music & culture, Reviews, University life | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perryn Leech comes to the COC

Posted on April 28, 2021 by barczablog

I am disoriented. The end of April? Time for taxes, to plant & nurture the garden. And to renew my subscription to the Canadian Opera Company before the end of the month. But it’s so weird. Normally their new season … Continue reading →

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