Category Archives: Opera

Back to where it all began: Against the Grain Theatre announce seventh season

Posted on September 15, 2016 by barczablog

Against the Grain Theatre goes back to its roots for seventh season in 2016/2017 A classic remount and a residency with the Canadian Opera Company bring AtG back to where it all began TORONTO — Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) … Continue reading →

Brady, Kaepernick, Eastwood and Trump

Posted on September 5, 2016 by barczablog

The arts confuse us regularly, somewhat like life itself. One minute we’re kept at a distance by a performance using some alienating device calling attention to the artifice, the next we’re sucked into the world we’re watching. I believe … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Popular music & culture | Leave a comment

Questions for Sabatino Vacca as SOLO begins

Posted on September 4, 2016 by barczablog

Sabatino Vacca is a busy man, Music Director of the Cambridge Symphony, Milton Philharmonic and the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestras, and now the Artistic Director of the brand-new Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, or “SOLO”. For the launch of SOLO’s first season a … Continue reading →

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Ariodante DVD

Posted on August 29, 2016 by barczablog

One of my objectives in my popular operas course (to begin in September at U of T) is to survey the operas being presented by the local companies. In anticipation of the Canadian Opera Company’s fall season production of Handel’s … Continue reading →

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Florence Foster Jenkins, everywoman

Posted on August 21, 2016 by barczablog

When I was a child I was introduced to the singing of Florence Foster Jenkins, on a record called “The Glory (??) of the Human Voice”. There was a kind of illicit pleasure in listening to her singing, because She … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | 5 Comments

A Tale of Two Cities: the opera

Posted on August 7, 2016 by barczablog

Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities (shall we call it TTC for short?) has now been adapted by composer Victor Davies and librettist Eugene Benson as an opera, and given its world premiere production by Summer Opera Lyric … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera | 1 Comment

Gates yea, Martin nay

Posted on August 4, 2016 by barczablog

I wanted to like it. As a child and teen, Lawren Harris was one of my favourite artists. Steve Martin was and is one of my favourite comedians, actors, and writers. But when I got to “The Idea of North: … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Opera, Popular music & culture | 2 Comments

Finding Dory and the symbolists

Posted on July 24, 2016 by barczablog

These days I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by emotions. I’ve had a death in the family (not a tragedy, when someone lives to a ripe old age, but still, it has stirred up a lot of feelings for me … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Leave a comment

Lucretia: a messed up kind of story for a messed up time

Posted on July 23, 2016 by barczablog

Sometimes one escapes from the real world in the theatre, diverted from life. And sometimes theatre is such a perfect mirror that it reminds us of the craziness we’re seeing everywhere else. That latter choice –finding the craziness of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | 3 Comments

Questions for Emma Char

Posted on July 17, 2016 by barczablog

Born in Kitchener – Waterloo, Ontario and raised in the Philadelphia area, Emma Char (who holds dual U.S. and Canadian Citizenship and currently resides in Toronto) recently crossed the border back to Canada to make debuts with Opéra de Montréal, … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | 1 Comment