Category Archives: Opera

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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Operatic alchemy

Posted on January 19, 2012 by barczablog

The Canadian Opera Company announced its 2012-2013 season today, January 18th, a combination of works old and new.  I don’t pretend to understand how an opera company chooses their repertoire, although I think I understand some of the issues involved.  … Continue reading →

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What’s under the tree?

Posted on January 18, 2012 by barczablog

The recent High Definition Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha offered another look at one of the most popular operas of the past few decades.  I am posting this the night before the Canadian Opera Company announces their 2012-2013 … Continue reading →

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The Descent of Psycho

Posted on January 11, 2012 by barczablog

I don’t know very much about Charles Darwin, but have always been fascinated by the profound reverberations set off in my head by the title The Descent of Man.  I am not a naturalist.  I understood that Darwin meant “descent” … Continue reading →

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L’Amour de loin DVD

Posted on January 4, 2012 by barczablog

As the Canada Opera Company’s February production of Kaija Saariaho’s Love From Afar gets closer my curiosity grows.  I’ve seen several new operas in my time, both the ones that vanished, and the ones that have stayed in the repertoire. … Continue reading →

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Boheme Against the Grain again

Posted on December 2, 2011 by barczablog

You can only be shocked that way once. When I attended the opening night of Against the Grain’s La bohème in June, it was thrilling to experience a modern adaptation of this well-worn opera in a downtown Toronto bar, in … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Christopher Mokrzewski

Posted on November 29, 2011 by barczablog

Canadian pianist Christopher (“Topher”) Mokrzewski is a former member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, participant in the preparation for COC’s recent Rigoletto and Opera Atelier’s 2011 La clemenza di Tito. But he’s also an accomplished soloist & chamber … Continue reading →

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