Category Archives: Opera

Pelléas et Mélisande by Request

Posted on February 5, 2011 by barczablog

Last night Opera by Request presented Pelléas et Mélisande in concert.  When an opera is given with singers in formal attire accompanied by a pianist, we usually understand that as a compromise.  We lose the sounds of the orchestra, the … Continue reading →

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Kinder gentler Flute

Posted on February 4, 2011 by barczablog

I just saw the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.  Considering the reputation of its director, Diane Paulus, an American known for putting Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna into a planetarium and A Midsummernight’s Dream into … Continue reading →

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Tuneful Tales

Posted on January 30, 2011 by barczablog

    Les Contes d’Hoffmann aka Tales of Hoffmann are very tuneful.  I had forgotten how many great melodies Jacques Offenbach had given us in this, his attempt at operatic legitimacy.  Next season the Canada Opera Company will be producing … Continue reading →

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Genoveva November 17th

Posted on November 22, 2010 by barczablog

How good is Robert Schumann’s Genoveva?  It depends who you ask.  Conventional musicological wisdom from a generation ago consigns Schumann to the same kind of niche as other virtuosi such as Chopin and Liszt.  Their solo piano works are brilliant … Continue reading →

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COC: Aida & Death in Venice

Posted on November 20, 2010 by barczablog

Once upon a time, the key to operatic success was understood according to the prestige associated with the famous singers in the cast.  Success required star-power, at least in the viewpoint of the influential impresario Sol Hurok, who changed our … Continue reading →

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