Category Archives: Personal ruminations & essays

Sabbatical

Posted on August 8, 2018 by barczablog

I’m taking a break from teaching for 2018-2019, while I focus on other projects. In past years I’ve taught introductory film music and opera courses at the School of Continuing Studies.  The blog will continue but for this year I’m … Continue reading →

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Oxymoronic Gould Transcriptions

Posted on July 29, 2018 by barczablog

It seems like a lifetime ago, back when Glenn Gould was still alive. I’d first learned of him in my childhood as the one who showed us a new approach to Bach, a famous performer who had then abandoned live … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Music minus one

Posted on July 28, 2018 by barczablog

I write a lot about transcriptions possibly because they’re so much fun. Sometimes I can manage to play them, sometimes they’re too difficult but still fascinating to explore.  One plays a piano piece while imagining an original from another context, … Continue reading →

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Demoralization as a tactic

Posted on July 14, 2018 by barczablog

Don’t lose heart. But do you ever wonder whether someone might be deliberately trying to wear you down, demoralize you, persuade you to give up? I know that as a persistent CBC listener & CNN watcher, as a voracious consumer … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Popular music & culture | Tagged | 3 Comments

A conversation with psychic Anastasia (Stacey) Agouros

Posted on July 4, 2018 by barczablog

I begin a bit differently on this occasion. I will speak about metaphysics & my beliefs. While I grew up infatuated with science, Hamlet put it nicely when he said There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What I learned from Bourdain

Posted on June 10, 2018 by barczablog

Anthony Bourdain, a man of contradictions, has died.  Yes he ended his life, but he seemed to know more about how to enjoy life than anyone I can think of.  As I watch CNN’s marathon of favourite episodes of Parts … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Health and Nutrition, Personal ruminations & essays, Popular music & culture | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Cry for me

Posted on May 2, 2018 by barczablog

Some actions are startlingly ambiguous.  Right now for example I’m not shaving my upper lip. Am I growing a moustache –which would be an action—or am I simply not shaving my upper lip? I had that thought, thinking about a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Eagerly anticipating Against the Grain’s Orphée⁺ next week

Posted on April 21, 2018 by barczablog

I’m writing about Against the Grain Theatre right now as I think about their imminent co-production of Gluck’s opera, that they are calling Orphée⁺ (the original press release said “an international co-production between AtG, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and Opera Columbus“, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Remember: UTS

Posted on April 11, 2018 by barczablog

I’m going through a series of retrospective experiences. Yesterday was Jeremy Dutcher’s concert exploring and re-visiting music from his culture.  Today I heard a Holocaust memorial performance (review still to come). And the whole time as a kind of background … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, University life | 3 Comments

Sirett, Koniuk & Oriana: romance on the road

Posted on March 11, 2018 by barczablog

This weekend I went out of town to see a concert while processing this weekend’s great tempo rubato. Daylight Savings Time appropriates an hour from our lives that will only be given back half a year from now. I figured … Continue reading →

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