Category Archives: Personal ruminations & essays

TSO: Managing Content in the Age of Convergence

Posted on January 9, 2016 by barczablog

Although I’ve been enjoying the Toronto Symphony tour up close, pressing my nose up to the glass of my window on the bus to stare at the world going by, it’s been a kind of workshop in so much more.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays | 1 Comment

Pisani vs Mate: a battle for the heart

Posted on January 7, 2016 by barczablog

Sometimes the most innocuous choice can seem symbolic, as though it represents a fork in the road. I was packing my carry-on for my flight down to Florida, as I spend a few days getting closer to the Toronto Symphony … Continue reading →

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TSO warming up in Florida

Posted on January 6, 2016 by barczablog

Toronto has just had the coldest day of the year! Brr-r-r: except it’s only January 5th so that’s a crazy statistic. I almost called it a “sadistic”because of course, as i look at the sky and wonder about cold weather, … Continue reading →

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Pollyanna looks back at 2015

Posted on December 28, 2015 by barczablog

The year isn’t quite over yet, but already we’re looking back at 2015 as 2016 draws closer.   When we remember Pollyanna’s credo –“if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”—no wonder we look back.  As the dollar … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics | Leave a comment

Donald Trump: crossover artist

Posted on December 22, 2015 by barczablog

What is the rationale behind crossover and why is it attractive? Sometimes it’s an escape, no longer being required to follow the rules of your old realm, as you visit a new one. Sometimes it’s the insight, the expertise in … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

2 Natural experiments with audience

Posted on December 12, 2015 by barczablog

Every performance is an experiment, or so said Joyce Wilkinson, a wonderful professor I encountered at OISE a number of years ago.  Performance is a kind of proposition (and you can take that both ways). When you think about that, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception | Leave a comment

High Def Lulu: Walmart Opera?

Posted on November 21, 2015 by barczablog

An irritated blast I sent to Facebook is the basis for this commentary (I don’t think it’s fair to call it a review), which is really more a series of speculative questions than answers. At one point in Saturday Nov … Continue reading →

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13 ways of looking at Pyramus and Thisbe

Posted on November 6, 2015 by barczablog

If a scientist could slice up love and loss into small specimens and put them onto slides and put them under a microscope it would resemble what we saw at the Four Seasons Centre tonight and in earlier performances from … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | 1 Comment

Honeymoon or Shotgun Wedding?

Posted on November 5, 2015 by barczablog

If you are a Torontonian, no one can rain on this parade. The swearing in of the Trudeau Cabinet had the kind of breathless following of a Royal Wedding. Can you say “honeymoon”? Don’t get me wrong.  I was in … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays, Politics | 2 Comments

Painting set free by JMW Turner

Posted on October 31, 2015 by barczablog

When I was a teenager I discovered the great English painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851) at around the same time that my infatuation began with the other romantic artists in other media. In poetry … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Personal ruminations & essays | 2 Comments