Category Archives: Opera

Space Opera Zero

Posted on November 17, 2018 by barczablog

When I write about the shows I see I’m sometimes overwhelmed by envy, wishing it were me who’s up there singing or playing. We’re never more alive than when we’re dying onstage. And so I’ll often toss off these spontaneous … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Popular music & culture, Reviews | Tagged Dylan Trowbridge, Eldritch Theatre, Eric Woolfe, Lisa Norton, Mairi Babb, Melanie McNeill, Space Opera Zero | 2 Comments

Steffani: more devotion than drama

Posted on November 9, 2018 by barczablog

I am grateful for the gift of a new voice, a new composer introduced to me by Tafelmusik, Ivars Taurins, and Krisztina Szabo. It’s truly a magical thing. I was pondering the experience of classical music, how so much of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Agostino Steffani, Ivars Taurins, Kristina Szabó, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra | 3 Comments

Closing matinée for Onegin

Posted on November 4, 2018 by barczablog

This afternoon’s late matinée at 4:30 pm was the final performance for Eugene Onegin in the Canadian Opera Company’s fall season. Weekend audiences can be a bit of a challenge especially in the afternoon. Oh sure, we’re all relaxed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics | Tagged Christine Goerke, Eugene Onegin, gender, Hadrian, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Robert Carsen, Sandra Horst, Tchaikovsky | 3 Comments

Centre Stage 2018: a Night of Voices

Posted on November 2, 2018 by barczablog

There are several ways to watch the annual Centre Stage competition, when young singers vie for a series of awards while seeking places in the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio. You can watch & listen to the competitors, eight young … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Alexander Neef, Andrea Lett, Anna-Sophie Neher, Ben Heppner, Canadian Opera Company, Centre Stage, Emily D'Angelo, Eugene Onegin, Hadrian, Jamie Groote, Johannes Debus, Liz Upchurch, Matthew Cairns, Vartan Gabrielian, Wendy Nielsen | Leave a comment

Maria by Callas at TIFF

Posted on October 31, 2018 by barczablog

Tonight I saw Tom Volf’s 2017 documentary Maria by Callas at TIFF. With the exception of a brief interview with her singing teacher Elvira de Hidalgo, the film is entirely an account of Maria Callas in her own words, that … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Aristotle Onassis, David Eliakis, David Frost, Elvira de Hidalgo, Maria by Callas, Maria Callas, Natalya Gennadi Matyusheva, TIFF, Tom Volf | Leave a comment

Opera Atelier: Actéon and Pygmalion

Posted on October 29, 2018 by barczablog

I saw two baroque operas on the same bill, plus something brand new added. Opera Atelier are presenting Charpentier’s Actéon and Rameau’s Pygmalion at the Elgin Theatre in a program exploring Ovidian tales of transformation, tenor Colin Ainsworth starring in … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Actéon, Charpentier, Colin Ainsworth, Edwin Huizinga, Elgin Theatre, Meghan Lindsay, Opera Atelier, Pygmalion, Rameau | 4 Comments

A closer look at Hadrian

Posted on October 28, 2018 by barczablog

Today was the closing performance of Hadrian, the new opera by Rufus Wainwright and Daniel MacIvor, presented by the Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons Centre. After tonight’s display of healthy nearly-naked male bodies in a homosexual love story, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Actéon, Ambur Braid, Anna-Sophie Neher, Ben Heppner, Canadian Opera Company, Daniel MacIvor, Denise Clarke, Eugene Onegin, Hadrian, Pygmalion, Rufus Wainwright | 1 Comment

Workshop Ecology

Posted on October 27, 2018 by barczablog

I’ve been tossing and turning, struggling with several questions in my head. I regularly wake up in the night to fine-tune something that I’ve blogged, fixing a wrong spelling, adding wrinkles & nuances. It’s been a turbulent two weeks, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Beothuk, Daniel MacIvor, Danny Elfman, Dean Burry, Hadrian, Jack Skellington, Marion Newman, Michael Hidetoshi Mori, Nightmare before Christmas, Opera Atelier, Opera on the Avalon, Peter Hinton, Rufus Wainwright, Shanawdithit, Tapestry Opera, Tim Burton, William Cormack, Yvette Nolan | 3 Comments

Pushing our buttons 2: pornographic musings on Actéon and Venus

Posted on October 23, 2018 by barczablog

Ten days ago I posted something about erotic opera, especially as it pertains to Actéon, an opera that is to be presented again by Opera Atelier beginning Thursday October 25th at the Elgin Theatre. Near the end of that post … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception, University life | Tagged Actéon, Aleksandar Lukac, Alex Dobson, Aphrodite, Charpentier, DH Lawrence, Drama Centre, Hadrian, Jay Lambie, Leopold Sacher-Masoch, Marquis de Sade, Michael Sawarna, Mozart & Salieri, Opera Atelier, Pierre Louÿs, Pushkin, Richard Strauss, Rimsky-korsakov, Rufus Wainwright, Salome, Sarah Gartshore, The Virgin & the Gypsy, Venus in Furs, Wayne Line | Leave a comment

Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian

Posted on October 14, 2018 by barczablog

Tonight I saw the world premiere of Hadrian, an opera commissioned by the Canadian Opera Company with libretto by Daniel MacIvor, music composed by Rufus Wainwright, directed by Peter Hinton and conducted by Johannes Debus. There are some wonderful performances, … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged Ambur Braid, Ben Heppner, Daniel MacIvor, Isaiah Bell, Johannes Debus, Karita Mattila, Peter Hinton, Rufus Wainwright, Thomas Hampson | 2 Comments