Category Archives: Opera

COC Siegfried: Love on the rocks in white PJs

Posted on January 31, 2016 by barczablog

Of the four operas in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle the closest thing to a comedy is Siegfried. Yes we do have a couple of deaths and a couple of would-be rulers of the world thwarted but it’s got a happy ending, … Continue reading →

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Questions for Jordan de Souza

Posted on January 28, 2016 by barczablog

Jordan de Souza, “the fast-rising young Canadian maestro with a busy international career” (Ottawa Citizen), is currently a Guest Conductor, Assistant Conductor, and Cover Conductor at the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet of Canada, and the Bregenz Festival (Austria), and is the newly appointed Resident Conductor for Tapestry Opera, … Continue reading →

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Tafelmusik: Season Launch 16/17

Posted on January 27, 2016 by barczablog

Tis the season. At a time of year when it can be so cold that one prefers to dream of next year (even if it’s been unseasonably warm to begin 2016), the major classical music organizations make their big announcements. … Continue reading →

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TSO Stage Mozart Requiem

Posted on January 24, 2016 by barczablog

We were all invested with a sense of community. As I sat making notes afterwards, Joseph Johnson’s solo cello kept playing away, as though he didn’t want to go home. I think it’s fair to say that so far Jeff … Continue reading →

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The Harvester: an operatic workshop

Posted on January 23, 2016 by barczablog

The Harvester is a play by Paul van Dyck, identified as an intriguing story for adaptation into an opera by soprano Stacie Dunlop, who was looking for a new piece to share the bill with Erwartung (a work she was … Continue reading →

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La bonne chanson @ RBA

Posted on January 21, 2016 by barczablog

Today’s noon-hour concert at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre was the first collaboration between the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio and the COC Orchestra Academy.  As I so often do I’ll begin with a preamble, one that corresponds to the gap … Continue reading →

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Questions for Johannes Debus: busy baton

Posted on January 21, 2016 by barczablog

The Canadian Opera Company’s winter season begins soon, featuring two long operas led by the same maestro, namely Johannes Debus. Siegfried, the penultimate of the Wagner operas in the Ring Cycle premieres January 23rd, while Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro follows … Continue reading →

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At last: #COC1617 is the most Canadian season yet 

Posted on January 14, 2016 by barczablog

Tonight’s Canadian Opera Company announcement of the coming season’s operas gave us reason to be proud, a genuine celebration of the sesquicentennial of Canada’s confederation. We checked in with the key components of the COC: Alexander Neef & Johannes Debus … Continue reading →

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TSO Announcement: good days for Canadian composers

Posted on January 12, 2016 by barczablog

The official announcements are still to come.  It’s a great year, or will be a great year to be Canadian, as we celebrate 150 years of Confederation in 2017. Anticipation is a big part of the fun. On Wednesday the … Continue reading →

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Questions for Brahm Goldhamer: playing Schubert

Posted on January 2, 2016 by barczablog

I know Brahm Goldhamer as a collaborative pianist of exceptional sensitivity. Of all the Toronto pianists I’ve heard in the concert-opera mode—where piano must stand in for all the instruments of the orchestra—his performance in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in … Continue reading →

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