-
Recent Posts
Subjects
- Animals, domestic & wild
- Art, Architecture & Design
- Books & Literature
- Cinema, video & DVDs
- Essays
- Food & Nutrition
- Interviews
- Music and musicology
- Opera
- Personal ruminations & essays
- Politics
- Popular music & culture
- Press Releases and Announcements
- Psychology and perception
- Reviews
- Spirituality & Religion
- Sports
- Theatre & musicals
- University life
- Against the Grain Theatre
- Aleksandar Lukac
- Alexander Neef
- Allyson McHardy
- Ambur Braid
- Andrew Haji
- Barbara Hannigan
- Beethoven
- Ben Heppner
- Benjamin Britten
- Berlioz
- Canadian Opera Company
- Canadian Stage
- Carla Huhtanen
- Christopher Alden
- Christopher Mokrzewski
- Claude Debussy
- COC
- Colin Ainsworth
- David Fallis
- Four Seasons Centre
- Francis Poulenc
- Franz Liszt
- Franz Schubert
- Giuseppe Verdi
- Glenn Gould
- Gustav Mahler
- Handel
- Hector Berlioz
- Ivars Taurins
- Jane Archibald
- Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg
- Joel Ivany
- Johannes Debus
- John Adams
- Jonathan Crow
- Koerner Hall
- Krisztina Szabo
- La Clemenza di Tito
- Les Troyens
- Linda Hutcheon
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Marshall Pynkoski
- Meghan Lindsay
- Messiah
- Metropolitan Opera
- Mireille Asselin
- Mozart
- opera
- Opera Atelier
- Parsifal
- Pelleas et Melisande
- Peter Oundjian
- Peter Sellars
- Philip Glass
- Phillip Addis
- Puccini
- Richard Strauss
- Richard Wagner
- Rigoletto
- Robert Carsen
- Robert Lepage
- Rufus Wainwright
- Russell Braun
- Schubert
- Stewart Goodyear
- Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
- Toronto Consort
- Toronto Summer Music
- Toronto Symphony Orchestra
- Tristan und Isolde
- Verdi
- Wagner
- Wallis Giunta
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Archives
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
Meta
Category Archives: Psychology and perception
The miraculous simplicity of Hearing Beethoven
I’m very grateful for the serendipity that led to Robin Wallace’s book even if the fate governing its creation is cruel indeed. A shy and short-sighted musicologist named Robin married a nurse named Barbara. She was losing her hearing. I … Continue reading
Robert Lepage’s 887 this time
Have you seen Robert Lepage’s 887? This show’s been all over the world. I missed the first Toronto incarnation in 2015 but saw it & raved about it last time, brought to Toronto via Canadian Stage (one of the co-producers) … Continue reading
Evolving past jealousy in opera
I was thinking about jealousy today. It’s funny how sometimes a word can come up over and over again. I confessed to some envy in my last review, admiring the way Stephen Walsh wrote about Debussy. I don’t know if … Continue reading
Vitals
Whenever I see a new theatre piece, whether spoken or musical, I’m juggling a few balls, responding to the work that was composed / written the interpretation / direction of that piece the performances / acting in the piece Whatever … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology and perception, Reviews, Theatre & musicals
Tagged Bryn Kennnedy, Rosamund Small, Theatre Born Between, Vitals
1 Comment
Circa Humans
Tonight I saw Humans by the Circa Ensemble a visiting troupe from Australia. I read the following brief preamble from Yaron Lifschitz, the Artistic Director of Circa. While it was poignant before the show, it was positively illuminating to re-read … Continue reading
Posted in Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception, Reviews, Theatre & musicals
Tagged Circa, Humans, The Return, Yaron Lifschitz
1 Comment
Pushing our buttons 2: pornographic musings on Actéon and Venus
Ten days ago I posted something about erotic opera, especially as it pertains to Actéon, an opera that is to be presented again by Opera Atelier beginning Thursday October 25th at the Elgin Theatre. Near the end of that post … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception, University life
Tagged Actéon, Aleksandar Lukac, Alex Dobson, Aphrodite, Charpentier, DH Lawrence, Drama Centre, Hadrian, Jay Lambie, Leopold Sacher-Masoch, Marquis de Sade, Michael Sawarna, Mozart & Salieri, Opera Atelier, Pierre Louÿs, Pushkin, Richard Strauss, Rimsky-korsakov, Rufus Wainwright, Salome, Sarah Gartshore, The Virgin & the Gypsy, Venus in Furs, Wayne Line
Leave a comment
Pushing our buttons: Hadrian, Actéon, Pygmalion and erotic opera
Before there was pornography, there was always opera. Slavoj Zizek spoke of opera as redundant once we had psychiatrists, which is how he explains the decline in opera in the 20th century. But maybe there are other reasons opera wasn’t … Continue reading
