Category Archives: Opera

COC Peter Grimes

Posted on October 18, 2013 by barczablog

Tonight I saw the Canadian Opera Company production of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes. I’m late getting to the party for a production that opened on October 5th, but I was out of town that weekend. Regular readers of newspaper reviews … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alan Held, Ben Heppner, Benjamin Britten, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Jill Grove, Johannes Debus, Neil Armfield, operabase, Peter Grimes, Richard Wagner | 2 Comments

10 Questions for Ileana Montalbetti

Posted on October 14, 2013 by barczablog

Canadian soprano Ileana Montalbetti has been one of the standouts in the new Canadian Opera Company production of Peter Grimes. The Toronto Star’s review, for instance says “when we start to consider Ileana Montalbetti’s saintly Ellen Orford, we are in … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Adrianne Pieczonka, Alexander Neef, Ben Heppner, Canadian Opera Company, Ellen Orford, Ileana Montalbetti, Mel Braun, Peter Grimes, Wendy Nielsen | 4 Comments

10 Questions for Cecilia Livingston

Posted on October 14, 2013 by barczablog

Known across Canada and the US for her vocal music, Cecilia Livingston is deeply involved in Toronto’s choral and opera communities, with a special focus on writing music for women’s voices. She looks forward to projects in 2014-2015 in collaboration … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Arts & Letters Club, Benjamin Britten, Cask of the Amontiallado, Cecilia Livingston, Christos Hatzis, Claude Debussy, Daniel Pinkham, Edgar Allan Poe, In Pace Requiescat, John Adams, La chute de la Maison d’Usher, Opera 5, Philip Glass, The Masque of the Red Death | 2 Comments

Symbolist horror

Posted on October 12, 2013 by barczablog

What’s in a name? Sometimes we grab onto something in a name, think we know what we have, and miss something else through our assumptions. We’re so enamoured for instance with the mystique of the rose, but we don’t usually … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Opera | Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann, Cask of the Amontiallado, Cecilia Livingston, Claude Debussy, Daniel Pinkham, Edgar Allan Poe, Jerry Lewis, La chute de la Maison d’Usher, Mladen Dolar, Opera’s Second Death, Slavoj Zizek, Symbolist, The Masque of the Red Death | Leave a comment

Ten Questions for Marshall Pynkoski

Posted on October 10, 2013 by barczablog

Marshall Pynkoski is one of Toronto’s greatest artists, even if he has been completely misunderstood. Since its inception in 1985, Opera Atelier has been a kind of lightning rod in Toronto for the conversation about historically informed performance. With co-artistic … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, Marshall Pynkoski, Mozart, Opera Atelier, The Abduction from the Seraglio | 4 Comments

Caird & Farley’s Conceptual Bohème

Posted on October 4, 2013 by barczablog

The Canadian Opera Company opened their 2013-2014 season tonight with Puccini’s La Bohème at the Four Seasons Centre. It’s a new COC co-production with Houston Grand Opera & San Francisco Opera directed by John Caird & designed by David Farley. … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Carlo Rizzi, Christian Van Horn, David Farley, Dimitri Pittas, Giacomo Puccini, Grazia Doronzio, John Caird, Joshua Hopkins, Joyce El-Khoury, La boheme, Phillip Addis | 1 Comment

Ready for Prime Time: Savitri & Sam

Posted on September 29, 2013 by barczablog

Okay, maybe the headline tells you what show i am about to watch on TV, coming home from a (hint hint) Saturday night opera. But i really mean it, they’re ready. Tonight I went to see a public presentation … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera | Tagged Canadian Rep Theatre, Claude Debussy, Giles Tomkins, Gregory Oh, John Mills-Cockell, Ken Gass, Marion Newman, Michael Barrett, Pelleas et Melisande, Savitry & Sam, Zorana Sadiq | 3 Comments

Bohemian courtship: being Rodolfo, winning Mimi

Posted on September 28, 2013 by barczablog

Who is Rodolfo? He is a young poet in love. And he is the hero of Puccini’s La Bohème, opening in a new Canadian Opera Company production on October 3rd at the Four Seasons Centre. In this production, three different … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Amsterdam, Canadian Opera Company, Concertgebouw, Dimitri Pittas, Eric Margiore, La boheme, Michael Fabiano, Mimi, Rodolfo, Verdi Requiem | 1 Comment

Savitri & Sam Workshop

Posted on September 27, 2013 by barczablog

As promised, here’s the information about the workshop of Savitri & Sam, a new opera under development, with a libretto by Ken Gass & music composed by John Mills-Cockell. This is from Ken Gass: …Because, a) it’s a workshop, and … Continue reading →

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

The end of the beginning

Posted on September 26, 2013 by barczablog

I thought about what to call this, the first free concert of the season from the Canadian Opera Company at the Richard Bradshaw Auditorium: Alpha & Omega? (no… too Biblical) Ave Atque Vale? (no…obscure) Alumni Reunion? (hm….partly) The first program … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alexander Neef, Andrew Haji, Aviva Fortunata, Canadian Opera Company, Charlotte Burrage, Claire de Sévigné, Clarence Frazer, Danielle MacMillan, Gordon Bintner, Janet Stubbs, Lotfi Mansouri, Michael Shannon, Richard Strauss | Leave a comment