Category Archives: Opera

Two from Menotti: The Telephone and The Medium

Posted on September 13, 2014 by barczablog

Coming home, the gibbous moon in front of me on Gerrard St scared the crap out of me. Oh sure, I know all about this scientific phenomenon, where the moon looks over-sized when close to the horizon, surprising us sometimes. … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 1 Comment

10 questions for Erin Bardua and Maureen Batt

Posted on September 12, 2014 by barczablog

There was a time long ago in the history of opera, when the singer/virtuoso was the boss.  And that meant a world of divas competing against one another.  Wanting the better aria.  Seeking to upstage one another.  (I wish I … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | 1 Comment

Kadozuke’s Richard III: right out of today’s headlines

Posted on September 11, 2014 by barczablog

Tatiana Jennings seems prescient. I understand that she and her collaborators in Kadozuke Kollektif and Bad New Days have been working on their adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III for awhile, a piece titled Richard III: the pleasures of violence. How … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Canadian Premiere of Dvorak’s JAKOBIN Oct 24

Posted on September 6, 2014 by barczablog

CANADIAN PREMIERE OF DVORAK’S JAKOBIN SET FOR OCTOBER 24, 2014. The Canadian Institute for Czech Music, in collaboration with Opera by Request, will present the Canadian premiere of Dvorak’s semi-comic opera Jakobin on Friday, October 24, 2014, 7:30 pm, at … Continue reading →

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

Ten questions for Aria Umezawa

Posted on September 2, 2014 by barczablog

Aria Umezawa is Artistic Director and a founding partner in Opera Five, an opera company that has been producing live opera & video. They’re (in)famous for their unpretentious sendups known as “Opera Cheats”, a relatively painless pathway to classics such … Continue reading →

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Autocorrected

Posted on August 23, 2014 by barczablog

Tonight I saw Love in the Age of AutoCorrect, a Loose TEA Music Theatre adaptation of Stravinsky’s Mavra and Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne on the Terrace of Atelier Rosemarie Umetsu. I’m trying to catch up (the world is changing, right?  … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Popular music & culture, Reviews | 1 Comment

The Most Popular Operas

Posted on August 19, 2014 by barczablog

I teach a course at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies called “The Most Popular Operas”, a great excuse to watch and listen to some of the most wonderful music ever composed. “Popular operas”? While the first video you get … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera | 2 Comments

Forbidden Music

Posted on August 18, 2014 by barczablog

Although my luggage for the trip to the cottage included a pile of books on diverse subjects –popular culture, a novel, psychology, and a few musicology books—the one that seized my imagination was the darkest of the group. How could … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , | 2 Comments

My eyes are bigger than my stomach

Posted on August 9, 2014 by barczablog

I have reading to do. Do you ever go to a bookstore and get carried away with what you see? Of course with a bookstore there’s no time-limit. You can buy books that you read this week, or this year, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Popular music & culture, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Ten Questions for Greg Finney

Posted on August 7, 2014 by barczablog

Who is Gregory Finney?  As he puts it in one of his biographies, he’s “a predominantly Comedic Baritone with Tenoristic leanings and background”.  This is an artist who is a bit of a chamelon, able to sing high or low, play … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Leave a comment