Category Archives: Reviews

The Producers at Lower Ossington Theatre

Posted on September 15, 2018 by barczablog

I just saw The Producers at the Lower Ossington Theatre. I have so many different sorts of responses, I want to keep them straight. 1. The theatre 2. The play (I know every line of the film, the play is … Continue reading →

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I Call myself Princess

Posted on September 12, 2018 by barczablog

I watched and listened to the second preview of I Call Myself Princess, Jani Lauzon’s impressive new play with opera, presented at Aki Studio in a collaboration between A Paper Canoe Projects, Cahoots Theatre and Native Earth Performing Arts. Genre … Continue reading →

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24 ways of looking at Winterreise      

Posted on September 6, 2018 by barczablog

Tonight’s event at Lula Lounge from Tongue in Cheek Productions was not your typical song cycle. Yes we did get the 24 songs in Schubert’s romantic Winterreise, or “winter journey”.  But instead of a single singer going along that cold … Continue reading →

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Kent Monkman—Miss Chief’s Praying Hands

Posted on August 23, 2018 by barczablog

Kent Monkman is back.  The show at Project Gallery is only on until September 1st, so see it while you can.   In 2017 “Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience” was one of the highlights of the year.  This time it’s … Continue reading →

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Exploring: Liszt and the Symphonic Poem

Posted on August 22, 2018 by barczablog

Serendipity leads me in my choices at the library. Sometimes I get lucky. There is so much more to Liszt than his abilities as a pianist, or his virtuoso compositions for piano such as the Hungarian Rhapsodies. Did you first … Continue reading →

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The Death of Stalin

Posted on August 11, 2018 by barczablog

It was promoted as a comedy. That reminds me of a joke I heard years ago. Stalin is addressing the Supreme Soviet, speaking and suddenly: a sneeze is heard. Stalin stops speaking, and asks sternly “who snyeeezed?” (my friend who … Continue reading →

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Escape from wartime reflections

Posted on August 1, 2018 by barczablog

Tonight’s installment of the Toronto Summer Music Festival might seem to have ignored their theme of “Reflections of Wartime”. The only real battle in Walter Hall was for our hearts, a friendly popularity contest between Angela Cheng and Alvin Chow. … 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 →

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Unforced Tears of Exile

Posted on July 17, 2018 by barczablog

Toronto Summer Music Festival’s theme for 2018 is “Reflections of Wartime”, in the centennial of the last year of World War I.  Tonight was my first concert, a presentation titled “Tears of Exile”, a program by Studio de musique ancienne … Continue reading →

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Parsifal Bayerische Staatsoper 2018

Posted on July 10, 2018 by barczablog

As a Canadian I regularly see pleasant but undistinguished productions that are enjoyable for some aspects, while leaving me unsatisfied overall. The performance of Parsifal that I watched tonight live-streamed from the Bavarian State Opera, sung and played with such … Continue reading →

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