Category Archives: Opera

Timely Arabella

Posted on October 15, 2017 by barczablog

Some compositions catch on right away, others take awhile to find an audience. I saw and enjoyed Arabella tonight in the Canadian Opera Company premiere production, the first time they’ve presented it: the sixth and last (premiered in 1933) in … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 1 Comment

Simon Callow Being Wagner

Posted on October 13, 2017 by barczablog

I’ve just devoured a new book, Simon Callow’s Being Wagner.   The University of Toronto’s excellent music library just acquired it, a new book with a 2017 copyright. The cover shows the sub-title “Triumph of the Will” which is likely apt, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Opera, Reviews | Leave a comment

Inter-textual Strauss

Posted on September 4, 2017 by barczablog

Composer Richard Strauss often dropped subtle references to other works into his scores. We’re accustomed to this in poetry, drama or film, where a quote can add depths to our experience, but it’s especially powerful when we recall how abstract … Continue reading →

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

An Arabella DVD

Posted on August 29, 2017 by barczablog

Every year as I prepare to teach the Most Popular Operas course at University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, I have to adjust the course to include the current season’s repertoire. Fall is in the air, as the nights … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera | 3 Comments

Memory Lane

Posted on July 29, 2017 by barczablog

I posted a few pictures to Facebook at the opening of SOLT’s all-Canadian program of two operas at the Robert Gill Theatre, one by John Beckwith who turned 90 earlier this year, one by a later generation in the person … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, University life | Leave a comment

Canadian double delight

Posted on July 29, 2017 by barczablog

Rare as it may be to encounter a full evening of opera from Canadian composers, that’s what Summer Opera Lyric Theatre offered tonight in their season opener.  The Robert Gill Theatre was packed with a receptive crowd for a double … Continue reading →

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

Forensic Composition, or when the script is like a CSI

Posted on July 25, 2017 by barczablog

That headline is dead serious and no joke.  I was brought in twice way back in the 1970s as a composer by directors looking with puzzlement at play scripts.  It would happen again later.  These formative projects changed the way … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Popular music & culture, University life | 1 Comment

Questions for Michael Rose: premiering A Northern Lights Dream with SOLT

Posted on July 12, 2017 by barczablog

Michael Rose is a familiar figure in the Toronto opera scene, a pianist, music-director & coach. On July 28th Summer Opera Lyric Theatre (SOLT) will be giving the world premiere of his first completed opera,  A Northern Lights Dream presented … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | 1 Comment

Dame Ethel Smyth: Suffragette

Posted on June 24, 2017 by barczablog

I’ve seen two operas by Dame Ethel Smyth presented tonight by Opera 5 under the heading “Suffragette”. The title feels especially apt for a composer I’d never encountered before, who was not only active in seeking the vote for women … Continue reading →

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

TSO: a decade’s lessons

Posted on June 15, 2017 by barczablog

The Toronto Symphony’s Decades Project has taken the orchestra and its listeners on a gradual tour through history.  As we’ve progressed forward 10 years at a time we’re less and less able to escape, as more and more we confront … Continue reading →

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