Category Archives: Opera

Beckett: Feck It!

Posted on February 23, 2012 by barczablog

I just saw Queen of Puddings Music Theatre’s production, in association with Canadian Stage, of Beckett: Feck It!  You hear a title like that and you may well wonder what they were thinking, what they were trying to say. I … Continue reading →

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Unexpected Tosca

Posted on February 17, 2012 by barczablog

Just when you think you know how a story will turn out –because it’s such a well-known opera—they throw you a curve.  There’s no drama quite like experiencing a work you think you know, where they’ve changed the usual ending. … Continue reading →

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Closing the Ring

Posted on February 12, 2012 by barczablog

I love it. When you’re writing about a great massive project it’s easy to be verbose, a lot harder to say something meaningful that’s brief, so let me get the most important part out of the way.  As I said: … Continue reading →

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Opera Atelier Lays Claim to a New Period

Posted on February 9, 2012 by barczablog

Opera Atelier announced their 2012-2013 season, a revival of Mozart’s Magic Flute and a new production of Weber’s Der Freischütz.  This time they’re trying something new. OA are remarkable in the way they build upon their strengths.  Over their quarter … Continue reading →

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Upwards

Posted on February 4, 2012 by barczablog

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the images from Kaija Saariaho’s opera Amour de Loin in its Toronto production from the Canadian Opera Company as “Love from Afar“.  When I hit the publish button the other night to … Continue reading →

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From Afar

Posted on February 3, 2012 by barczablog

The love one encounters in Saariaho’s opera Love from Afar is not at all like the love most people think of when they use the word in the 21st century.  And while the work was composed recently employing very modern … Continue reading →

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Tosca tonight

Posted on February 1, 2012 by barczablog

Puccini’s Tosca can take one of at least a few possible shapes: It can be a riveting thriller of a story, at times keeping you glued to the action It can be a virtuoso vehicle, an opportunity for any one … Continue reading →

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Lepage and The End

Posted on January 28, 2012 by barczablog

As I listen to the Metropolitan Opera premiere the last of the four operas in Wagner’s Ring Cycle –streamed for free to an eager audience worldwide—I have to say, the natives are restless.  While Canadians are just fine with Robert … Continue reading →

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“Tosca leaps…”

Posted on January 21, 2012 by barczablog

If this were a debate, Joseph Kerman would be in one corner, dissing Puccini’s Tosca, the opera he famously called a “shabby shocker”. Kerman is not alone in that corner.  Benjamin Britten wasn’t too thrilled with Tosca either.  But I … Continue reading →

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Herculean

Posted on January 20, 2012 by barczablog

Tonight’s premiere of Tafelmusik’s semi-staged version of Handel’s Hercules was dramatic in more ways than one. We came to honour Jeanne Lamon, to celebrate her thirty years leading the baroque orchestra.  While it was a commemoration of past achievements in … Continue reading →

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