Category Archives: Reviews

Rethinking Mozart 40 & Schubert 5 with Rachel Podger and Tafelmusik

Posted on September 27, 2025 by barczablog

Friday night was an exciting beginning to the Tafelmusik concert season led by their charismatic Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger featuring works of Mozart & Schubert, a concert to be repeated Saturday & Sunday at Koerner Hall. The spectacular performances … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Charlotte Nediger, classical-music, Franz Schubert, Koerner Hall, Mozart, Rachel Podger, Tafelmusik, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

Over 800 meals from Boheme On Tap for Daily Bread Food Bank

Posted on September 20, 2025 by barczablog

I have a new perspective on Puccini’s opera since attending La Boheme On Tap last night at the Redwood Theatre, although watching Moonstruck last week while interviewing a couple of the participants highlighted the contrast. Yes Mimi lives in poverty, … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alexander Hajek, Andrew Tees, Ann Cooper Gay, Brahm Goldhamer, Daily Bread Food Bank, Dylan Wright, Giacomo Puccini, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Henry Ingram, Holly Chaplin, Joel Ricci, Kathryn Rose Johnston, La boheme, La Boheme On Tap, Moonstruck, Opera Revue, Peter Barcza, Redwood Theatre, Ryan Hofman | Leave a comment

O Fortuna bless Toronto Symphony to start the season

Posted on September 19, 2025 by barczablog

Forgive me that my headline sounds like a prayer to the Goddess Fortuna. But so far she seems to be smiling upon our fair city and our Toronto Symphony. I feel lucky to live in this city. Toronto Symphony started … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Andrew Haji, Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, classical-music, Fortuna, Gustavo Gimeno, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, Julie Roset, orchestra, Roy Thomson Hall, Sean Michael Plumb, Toronto Children's Chorus, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis, Zimfira Poloz | Leave a comment

Robert Lepage’s Macbeth at Stratford

Posted on September 6, 2025 by barczablog

Bruce asked me whether the Scottish play is worth seeing. I had seen it from the front row, able to see every detail of the complex presentation in the Avon Theatre, less Shakespeare’s immortal play than Robert Lepage’s Macbeth. YMMV … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged 887, Avon Theatre, Bertold Brecht, Bluebeard's Castle, Canadian Opera Company, Eonnagata, erwartung, Ex Machina, Gesamtkunstwerk, John Gzowski, Lucy Peacock, Macbeth, Needles and Opium, Richard Wagner, Robert Lepage, Stratford Festival, The Tempest, Tom McCamus, Verfremdungseffekt, William Shakespeare, YMMV | 2 Comments

Rez Gas premieres at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope

Posted on August 25, 2025 by barczablog

Rez Gas is a new hip-hop flavoured musical, receiving its world premiere production at the beautiful Capitol Theatre in Port Hope, by Cale Crowe and Genevieve Adam. Erika doesn’t like musicals but I persuaded her to come with me to … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Cale Crowe, Capitol Theatre, Dillan Meighan Chiblow, Emma Rudy, Genevieve Adam, Indigenous, Indigenous music, Indigenous theatre, John Wamsley, Jonathan Fisher, Michelle Bardach, Nicole Joy-Fraser, Port Hope, Rez Gas, Santorini, Vinnie Alberto | Leave a comment

Falling for Sky Gilbert’s Shakespeare Lied and other bardish books

Posted on August 17, 2025 by barczablog

I want to explain where I’m coming from, as I review the second of three books from Sky Gilbert about William Shakespeare. Shakespeare Lied appeared in 2024, while Shakespeare Beyond Science came out in 2020. My response this time (over … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged 1939, books, Heratio, Leslie Hotson, literature, Mr WH, Paul Streitz, Richard Paul Roe, Shakespeare, Shakespeare Beyond Science, Shakespeare by Hilliard, Shakespeare Lied, Sky Gilbert, The Shakespeare Guide to Italy, theatre, William Shakespeare | Leave a comment

Heratio premieres at the Guild Festival Theatre

Posted on August 11, 2025 by barczablog

I’ve just seen Genevieve Adam’s Heratio, a new play that picks up from where Hamlet ended. It’s another of the scripts that build on Shakespeare, with much of the fun coming if you know the original, as in Stoppard’s Rosenkrantz … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged 1939, Clowns Reading Shakespeare, Fortinbras, Genevieve Adam, Guild Festival Theatre, Hamlet, Helen Juvonen, Heratio, Horatio, Jack Davidson, Janelle Hanna, Jani Lauzon, Kaitlyn Riordan, Kenzia Dalie, Philippa Domville, Phoenix Fyre, Rashaana Cumberbatch, Rosenkrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Scarborough, Siobhan Richardson, Tom Stoppard, William Shakespeare | 1 Comment

Dramatic New Orford String Quartet Concert

Posted on July 31, 2025 by barczablog

The New Orford String Quartet appearance July 30th at Walter Hall was not as expected. Yes our Toronto Summer Music program was already a departure from normal expectations, putting Brahms’ F minor piano quintet before rather than after Beethoven’s Op … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Andrew Wan, Brian Manker, Ian Parker, Johannes Brahms, Jonathan Crow, Ludwig van Beethoven, New Orford String Quartet, Sharon Wei, Toronto Summer Music, Walter Hall | Leave a comment

Affairs of the Heart at TSM

Posted on July 26, 2025 by barczablog

Friday night’s Toronto Summer Music concert at Walter Hall titled “Affairs of the Heart” lived up to its name. Three chamber works in a diverse assortment of styles brought the sold out audience to its feet each time. We started … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged chamber-music, classical-music, Dmitri Shostakovich, Efe Baltacıgil, Johannes Brahms, Jonathan Crow, Michael Haydn, Min-Jeong Koh, music, Philip Chiu, piano, Rémi Pelletier, Toronto Summer Music, Walter Hall, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

Missing comes east to Toronto

Posted on July 25, 2025 by barczablog

Toronto Summer Music presented a single concert performance of the opera Missing, from a libretto by Marie Clements and a score by Brian Current, to a full Koerner Hall. This was its first appearance in Eastern Canada after having been … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Andrea Ludwig, Andy Moro, Asitha Tennekoon, ATOM, Brian Current, Caitlin Wood, Cale Crowe, City Opera Vancouver, Continuum Ensemble, Evan Korbut, Gitxsan, Indigenous art, Indigenous Genocide, Koerner Hall, Marie Clements, Melody Courage, Michelle Lafferty, Missing, oratorio, Pacific Opera Victoria, Timothy Long, Toronto Summer Music | 1 Comment