Category Archives: Opera

COC Nixon

Posted on February 25, 2011 by barczablog

Tonight I watched the Canadian Opera Company production of John Adams’ Nixon in China.  I saw the Met High Definition broadcast recently after acquiring the Naxos CD of the opera containing virtually the same cast as the one I saw … Continue reading →

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Opera, made in Canada

Posted on February 18, 2011 by barczablog

What’s so Canadian about the “Canadian Opera Company”? It probably never occurs to the average person to question.  The operas are usually written by long-dead Italians, Germans, the occasional Frenchman, and sometimes we get one in English.  Nobody objects to … Continue reading →

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Nixon on the Beach

Posted on February 13, 2011 by barczablog

  “Nixon on the Beach”? I saw the High Definition Metropolitan Opera broadcast of John Adams’ Nixon in China at the Beach Cinemas, my favourite Toronto theatre.  The Beach Cinemas actually have voicemail, and call you back with the most … Continue reading →

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If it’s Thursday it must be Zauberflöte

Posted on February 11, 2011 by barczablog

Last week I was watching the Canadian Opera Company Magic Flute on a Thursday, again tonight and even next week. I’m not complaining.  If this is a rut, I like it! But whereas last week I saw the so-called “A” … Continue reading →

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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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