Category Archives: Opera

CCOC’s 50th Anniversary Season Announcement

Posted on April 25, 2017 by barczablog

Ben Heppner and other opera stars join the Canadian Children’s Opera Company for thrilling 50th Anniversary Season TORONTO – The Canadian Children’s Opera Company presents the thrilling lineup of its 2016/2017 50th Anniversary Season. Founded by Ruby Mercer and Lloyd … Continue reading →

Opera Atelier: badass Jason vs hot mess Medea

Posted on April 23, 2017 by barczablog

When an opera company remounts a work they’ve done before, one wants to see improvement. Lately every time Opera Atelier revives a piece it comes back better than before. Tonight was the opening of Charpentier’s Médée, promoted as “Medea and … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 1 Comment

Hinton’s Riel: protocols for reconciliation

Posted on April 21, 2017 by barczablog

When I look back at my childhood, the way the word “Indian” was used and abused, I can barely recognize where we were and where we’ve come. The past two years have been especially transformative, with the Truth & Reconciliation … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Politics, Reviews | 3 Comments

Questions for Peter Hinton concerning his Revisionist Riel

Posted on April 20, 2017 by barczablog

Director, dramaturg and playwright Peter Hinton has worked across Canada with many theatre companies. He has been the Associate Artistic Director at Theatre Passe Muraille and the Canadian Stage Company in Toronto, Artistic Director of the Playwrights Theatre Centre in … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera, Politics | 3 Comments

Dialogue on use of Indigenous Songs in Canadian Compositions, hosted by COC

Posted on April 12, 2017 by barczablog

In a press release, the Canadian Opera Company have announced a closed meeting on April 19th –the eve of the premiere of their new co-production of Louis Riel—to discuss “First Nations song protocol and the use of Indigenous songs in … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Press Releases and Announcements | 2 Comments

Robert Lepage speaks white in 887

Posted on April 8, 2017 by barczablog

Although I missed Robert Lepage’s 887 the first time it came to Toronto in 2015 (during the Pan Am Games) I’m glad I was able to see it today with Canadian Stage at the Bluma Appel, in a short run … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Politics | 3 Comments

Raiders: Williams & the matter of popularity

Posted on March 30, 2017 by barczablog

The recent fad for films with live accompaniment is shining a light on artistry that has often languished in obscurity. Oh sure, film music composers are well paid, especially someone like John Williams, composer of the score for Raiders of … Continue reading →

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

Beyond Reason: Wagner contra Nietzsche

Posted on March 25, 2017 by barczablog

I finished my previous book last night (They Can’t Kill Us All). I began the review of that fascinating book—filled with the keen-eyed observations of Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery—by a kind of apologetic preamble about my life in fantasyland, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Opera, Politics | 1 Comment

Moses,Aaron, and a few others at TIFF

Posted on March 13, 2017 by barczablog

Today TIFF presented two musically-oriented films from their Straub-Huillet retrospective, introduced with a live performance by Against the Grain Theatre. AtG have boldly gone where opera has not often gone before, taking their productions into bars, TV studios, and now … Continue reading →

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

Louis Riel returns to Canadian Opera Company

Posted on March 9, 2017 by barczablog

LOUIS RIEL RETURNS TO CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY WITH INCLUSIVE AND EXPANSIVE HISTORY RESTORED A Contentious and Provocative Celebratory Work to Honour Canada’s History Toronto – Canadian history comes to life on the stage of the Four Seasons Centre for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Press Releases and Announcements | Leave a comment