Category Archives: Opera

Don Giovanni 2.0

Posted on October 30, 2011 by barczablog

Tonight I attended the opening night of Opera Atelier’s new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.  This is their second production of the opera in roughly a decade, one I am inclined to call Don Giovanni 2.0 because this feels like … Continue reading →

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HIP Don Giovanni

Posted on October 28, 2011 by barczablog

Facing the prospect of being saturated Saturday in the Dons Giovanni (what with a Met matinée and an opening night for Opera Atelier, offering the same opera twice in one day) I am surprising myself.  Even though I saw the … Continue reading →

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Another Don Giovanni

Posted on October 22, 2011 by barczablog

Opera Atelier are about to open a new production of Don Giovanni. And why not?  When last seen in these parts, The Don was ambushed by a feminist reading from the Canadian Opera Company almost exactly three years ago, a … Continue reading →

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Rigoletto, second cast

Posted on October 18, 2011 by barczablog

I had another look/listen to the Canadian Opera Company’s Rigoletto Oct 17th in a performance that was substantially different from the cast that opened earlier this autumn: a different tenor a different soprano a different baritone a different conductor Christopher … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Robert Pomakov

Posted on October 15, 2011 by barczablog

Robert Pomakov is singing the role of Monterone in the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto.  I ask him ten questions: five about himself and five about the role. 1) Which of your parents do you resemble … Continue reading →

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A Man’s World

Posted on September 30, 2011 by barczablog

I saw the new Canadian Opera Company production of Rigoletto directed by Christopher Alden tonight.  It makes a nice companion to the Robert Carsen Iphigenia in Tauris that premiered last week to such acclaim.  Both productions are like close analyses … Continue reading →

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Carsen’s Iphigenia

Posted on September 23, 2011 by barczablog

Robert Carsen has once again held up a mirror to an opera by Gluck with the help of the Canadian Opera Company.  Last season it was an award winning production of Orfeo ed Euridice.  Tonight I saw Iphigenie en Tauride, … Continue reading →

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Fleeting fame

Posted on September 9, 2011 by barczablog

I held a piece of history in my hands. And then after keeping it a few days overdue, I returned it to the library. I am speaking of a score for an opera signed by its composer.  The opera?  Aphrodite, … Continue reading →

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Il Trovatore

Posted on July 10, 2011 by barczablog

Verisimilitude may be a tad over-rated.  Tonight I witnessed a concert performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore by Toronto’s Opera By Request.  It’s habitual to apologize for what’s missing in these virtual renditions, that have music stands instead of sets, and … Continue reading →

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Svadba-Wedding

Posted on June 25, 2011 by barczablog

I experienced one of the great joys tonight at a new opera.  For awhile I was lost.  In a world of GPS precision and universal surveillance, it’s very hard to be so engrossed as to not know where you are. … Continue reading →

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