Category Archives: Opera

Farewell Norma

Posted on November 6, 2016 by barczablog

I had another look at the Canadian Opera Company’s Norma tonight, the closing performance of their fall season. It was both a chance to get a closer look as well as to see a slightly different cast. Elza van den … Continue reading →

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COC Centre Stage 2016

Posted on November 4, 2016 by barczablog

Tonight was the annual Centre Stage event at the Four Seasons Centre, a combination of competition and gala celebration.  It was wonderful seeing so many familiar & famous faces in an audience including Stephen Lord, Gunta Dreifelds, Bruce Ubukata and … Continue reading →

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Naomi’s Road: an opera about a shameful moment in Canada’s history

Posted on November 1, 2016 by barczablog

Michael Mori, Artistic director of Tapestry Opera posted the following on Facebook (the press release follows immediately below): When we started planning Naomi’s Road, a show deals with the shameful treatment of Japanese-Canadians during WWII, it was well before Trump’s … Continue reading →

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All But Gone

Posted on October 29, 2016 by barczablog

When you’re ushered into the chapel for a wedding, sometimes they ask you “bride or groom?” That’s to identify where you should sit. I was thinking of that quaint custom as I came into the Berkeley Street theatre tonight for … Continue reading →

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

That other Aeneas and Dido story

Posted on October 25, 2016 by barczablog

It was a funny coincidence. When I ran into David Fallis the other day –an encounter I mentioned in my recent review of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas—I showed him a DVD I was returning to the library, the Fura del … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | 1 Comment

Ariodante questions

Posted on October 24, 2016 by barczablog

My second time through the Canadian Opera Company’s Ariodante yesterday raised more questions in my mind. There are the vocal questions, ones that aren’t new.  I have long wondered about the way we perceive operatic performance, that a perfect performance … Continue reading →

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What to expect from Ariodante

Posted on October 17, 2016 by barczablog

Part of me is dying to spill the beans about the Canadian Opera Company’s co-production of Ariodante that opened this afternoon in a matinee at Four Seasons Centre, but I have to tread carefully, as I studiously avoid spoilers, especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 3 Comments

Radvanovsky’s Norma

Posted on October 16, 2016 by barczablog

This isn’t your usual Norma. It’s an opera that requires talent and skill far above and beyond what’s usual or normal.  Believe the hype about Sondra Radvanovsky, who is singing the lead in Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece, in a cast as … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 5 Comments

Elisa Citterio inspiring Tafelmusik

Posted on September 23, 2016 by barczablog

As I sat in the balcony an allegorical tableau seemed to be enacted before me. To my right sat Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, co-artistic directors of Opera Atelier. To my left sat Topher Mokrzewski and Joel Ivany, the … Continue reading →

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

Nutty professors

Posted on September 18, 2016 by barczablog

A friend of mine who teaches at a Canadian university asked me to suggest a good text to explain Leitmotifs. I was stopped short, because it’s a tricky subject.  While Wagner’s mature operas are regularly spoken of using the word … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, University life | 2 Comments