Category Archives: Opera

Interviewing the busy soprano, Holly Chaplin

Posted on February 16, 2025 by barczablog

This blog is often a vicarious exercise, a way for a wannabe composer singer pianist to get closer to my heroes, a bit of wish-fulfillment. In the process the reader gets my starstruck expressions of awe, while maybe we learn … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Holly Chaplin, Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, SOLO, Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, Voicebox Opera in Concert | Leave a comment

A first look at La Reine-Garçon

Posted on February 3, 2025 by barczablog

I attended the Canadian Opera Company’s presentation of La Reine-Garçon, their co-production of a new opera with a libretto by Michel Marc Bouchard and music composed by Julien Bilodeau. Today, February 2nd, is Bouchard’s birthday. In addition to this libretto … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Aline Kutan, Anne-Marie Beaudette, Canadian Opera Company, Johannes Debus, Julien Bilodeau, Kirsten MacKinnon, kulning, La Reine-Garçon, Michel Marc Bouchard, Opéra de Montréal, Owen McCausland, Philippe Sly, Queen Hezumuryango, The Girl King, Wesley Harrison | 2 Comments

Varieties of virtuosity: an interview with Piano Lunaire founder Adam Sherkin

Posted on February 2, 2025 by barczablog

Last month I was delighted to discover Adam Sherkin at a free noon-hour concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, a brilliant pianist & composer I probably should have heard sooner and founder of Piano Lunaire. I jumped at the chance … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Barbara Hannigan, Boris Lysenko, Brian Current, Canadian Opera Company, Franz Josef Haydn, Franz Liszt, Julien Bilodeau, La Reine-Garçon, Leon Fleisher, opera, paraphrase, piano, Piano Lunaire, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Stewart Goodyear, Thomas Adès, Udo Steingraeber, virtuosity, virtuoso | Leave a comment

New COC Butterfly gets it right

Posted on January 27, 2025 by barczablog

Everything clicked today in the Canadian Opera Company presentation of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Four Seasons Centre. I’ve been enjoying the music of this opera all my life in spite of shortcomings, never having experienced a production that was … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Eri Nakamura, Gene Wu, Giacomo Puccini, Hyona Kim, Julius Ahn, Kang Wang, Keri-Lynn WIlson, madama butterfly, Michael Samuel, opera, Puccini, Samuel Chan | Leave a comment

Paraphrases on La Reine-garçon from Sherkin & Bilodeau

Posted on January 24, 2025 by barczablog

Today was my first time attending a noon-hour Canadian Opera Company concert in a long time, tempted by a few magic words: a world premiere performance of excerpts from a suite of paraphrases composed by Julien Bilodeau, whose opera La … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Canadian Opera Company, Gyorgy Ligeti, Julien Bilodeau, La Reine-Garçon, paraphrase, piano, Piano Lunaire | 1 Comment

Alceste on Bloor

Posted on January 13, 2025 by barczablog

After half a century at the Jane Mallett in St Lawrence Centre on Front St, Voicebox – Opera in Concert presented Gluck’s opera Alceste today at their new venue, Jeanne Lamon Hall in the Trinity-St Paul’s Centre on Bloor St … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alceste, Canadian talent, Christoph Willibald Gluck, classical-music, Colin Ainsworth, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Jane Mallett Theatre, Jeanne Lamon Hall, Lauren Margison, music, Ranieri de' Calzabigi, Ryan Harper, Ryan Hofman, theatre, Voicebox Opera in Concert | Leave a comment

Talking to Lauren Margison about Alceste

Posted on January 3, 2025 by barczablog

Canadian soprano Lauren Margison will sing the title role in Gluck’s Alceste on January 12th with Voicebox Opera in Concert. Lauren is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble studio, the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Alceste, Ann Cooper Gay, Christine Goerke, Christoph Willibald Gluck, classical-music, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Lauren Margison, opera, Richard Margison, Valerie Kuinka, Voicebox Opera in Concert | Leave a comment

Grounded and how we got here

Posted on November 10, 2024 by barczablog

I was disappointed to miss the live High Definition broadcast of Grounded October 19th, seeing the Canadian Opera Company Nabucco. I thought that the main reason I wanted to attend was to see brilliant mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo in the lead … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Ben Bliss, cognitive dissonance, Ellie Dehn, Emily D'Angelo, futurism, George Brant, Grounded, Jenine Tesori, Kyle Miller, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera High Definition Broadcast, Mimi Lien, Yannick Nezet-seguin | Leave a comment

Faust Adaptations

Posted on November 4, 2024 by barczablog

Today I saw the closing performance of the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Gounod’s Faust, in a week when it seemed everyone was selling their soul to the devil even without the manifest falsehoods of politicians at election time. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Ariane Cossette, Canadian Opera Company, Centre Stage, Cesare Siepi, Charles Gounod, F W Murnau, Faust, Franz Schubert, Gretchen am Spinnrade, Hector Berlioz, Jerome Hines, Jessica Harper, Johannes Debus, Kyle Ketelsen, La Damnation de Faust, Nabucco, Paul WIlliams, Phantom of the Paradise, Robert Lepage, Szymon Mechlinski, Walpurgisnacht Ballet | Leave a comment

2024 Centre Stage Ensemble Studio Competition

Posted on October 31, 2024 by barczablog

Tonight was the Center Stage competition, seven soloists singing with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra led by Johannes Debus at the Four Seasons Centre. I wasn’t there. I watched the livestream from home, pleasantly surprised by the quality of what … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera | Tagged Ariana Maubach, Centre Stage, Cnaadian Opera Company, Emma Hunter, Emma Pennell, Johannes Debus, Olivia LaPointe | 3 Comments