Category Archives: Reviews

Revisor

Posted on March 8, 2019 by barczablog

The hybrid creation Revisor from Jonathon Young and Crystal Pite is so much more than I can put into words, a piece of theatre that explores the process of signification while showing us the ways that it breaks down. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Canadian Stage, crystal pite, Gogol, Hamlet, Jonathon Young, Kidd Pivot, Revisor | 3 Comments

Perchance to Dream

Posted on March 4, 2019 by barczablog

I’ve just seen Perchance to Dream in its Canadian Premiere with Toronto Operetta Theatre. Ivor Novello’s musical romance was a great success upon its first appearance in London in 1945, although tastes have changed. I was reminded of Salieri in … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Guillermo Silva-Marin, Ivor Novello, Lynn Isnar, Perchance to Dream, Peter Tiefenbach, Toronto Operetta Theatre | Leave a comment

Egoyan- Lite

Posted on February 24, 2019 by barczablog

I had another look at the Canadian Opera Company’s Cosi fan tutte tonight, a production that I enjoyed even more this time in its closing performance. Last time I was content to have so much fun & so many laughs, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Atom Egoyan, Canadian Opera Company, Cosi fan tutte, Da Ponte, Emily D'Angelo, Kirsten MacKinnon, Marilyn Gronsdal, Mozart, R Kelly, Russell Braun, Tracy Dahl | 1 Comment

The Angel Speaks

Posted on February 22, 2019 by barczablog

Tonight I was present at the North American Premiere of The Angel Speaks, a program of several works in several styles from Opera Atelier in a single performance for a small audience at the Royal Ontario Museum. Would we call … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Edwin Huizinga, Erik Satie, Henry Purcell, Jesse Blumberg, Marshall Pynkoski, minimalism, Mireille Asselin, Opera Atelier, Philip Glass, Rainer Maria Rilke, Royal Ontario Museum, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Tyler Gledhill, William Boyce | 1 Comment

Paolozzapedia

Posted on February 21, 2019 by barczablog

Commedia dell’Arte is a living theatre language. In Paolozzapedia, Adam Paolozza’s new meditation upon his heritage & influences, a Bad New Days Production with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille, that opened tonight at TPM, we get one of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Adam Paolozza, Bad New Days, Christina Serra, commedia dell'arte, Eduardo Dimartino, Kari Pederson, Maddie Bautista, Matt Smith, Oshawa, Paolozzapedia, Pulcinella, Theatre Passe Muraille | Leave a comment

Elektra again

Posted on February 17, 2019 by barczablog

Today I had a second chance to see & hear the Canadian Opera Company’s Elektra at the Four Seasons Centre. It was so much better for me the second time, possibly because I was sitting closer. That first time (from a … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alexandra Loutsion, Canadian Opera Company, Christine Goerke, Elektra, Erin Wall, Four Seasons Centre, Jill Grove, Johannes Debus, Lauren Eberwein, Lauren Segal, Michael Schade, Owen McCausland, Simona Genga, Susan Bullock, Tracy Cantin | 1 Comment

Glimpses of The Eternal Feminine with Barbara Hannigan

Posted on February 15, 2019 by barczablog

When I posted that photo at lunch earlier today from last night’s Toronto Symphony concert, I joked that Barbara Hannigan is a precedent setter. Even so I understated what we saw & heard tonight. With one exception, the five works … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alban Berg, Barbara Hannigan, Bill Elliott, Claude Debussy, George Gershwin, Jean Sibelius, Lulu, Syrinx, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 3 Comments

The Adaptation of Prince Hamlet

Posted on February 9, 2019 by barczablog

Do you ever need a tragedy? Sometimes I think we can be so burdened by the troubles of our own lives and the stories we hear from others, that we hunger for catharsis. I can’t be objective about the show … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Berkeley Street Theatre, Canadian Stage, Christine Horne, Dawn Jani Birley, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Miriam Fernandes, Prince Hamlet, Ravi Jain, Rick Roberts, Thomas Ryder Payne, Why Not Theatre, William Shakespeare | 3 Comments

Fierabras in concert

Posted on February 4, 2019 by barczablog

Voicebox /Opera in Concert offered a highlight in a splendid week of music theatre in Toronto, reminding us of why they are such a crucial part of the mix in this city with their concert performance of Schubert’s Fierabras today. Hook … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alexander Dobson, Amy Moodie, Evan Korbut, Franz Schubert, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Jocelyn Fralick, Justin Welsh, Kevin Mallon, Lawrence Wiliford, Opera in Concert, Robert Cooper, Voicebox | Leave a comment

TSO: Sir Andrew Davis Conducts Wagner

Posted on February 1, 2019 by barczablog

If you’re a fan of the music of Richard Wagner chances are you’re fully aware that the Toronto Symphony are showcasing some of his best known music this week, in a concert tonight that repeats Saturday Feb 2nd. After three … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Andrew Davis, Brindley Sherratt, Die Walkure, Lise Davidsen, Richard Wagner, Simon O’Neill, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 16 Comments