Category Archives: Reviews

Still Alice’s Alzheimer’s

Posted on October 3, 2015 by barczablog

There’s a film from a few years ago called Away From Her, starring Gordon Pinsent & Julie Christie. IMDB tells me it was made in 2006. I waited quite awhile to see it because the subject was very close to … Continue reading →

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Soundstreams: Beyond the Aria but not beyond Virtuosity

Posted on September 30, 2015 by barczablog

Tonight in a Soundstreams concert titled “Adrianne Pieczonka: Beyond the Aria” we saw and heard two great operatic artists go beyond their usual boundaries, using their instruments in unexpected ways.  Soprano Pieczonka was joined by mezzo-soprano Kristina Szabó in a … Continue reading →

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Love Shards of Sappho at RBA

Posted on September 29, 2015 by barczablog

Today’s free noon-hour concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre (the upper lobby of the Four Seasons Centre) offered a rich pairing of matched works, presented by the Array Ensemble & a pair of sopranos.  Today feels especially like a preparation … Continue reading →

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Thoughts of youth and mentorship open Toronto Symphony’s 2015-16 season

Posted on September 25, 2015 by barczablog

One of my favourite things about Toronto Symphony concerts is the steady stream of gratitude in the speeches that usually precede performances.  While opening night may be weighed down with ritual, the language was sincere, tonight’s season opener at Roy … Continue reading →

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Another Country: another century

Posted on September 23, 2015 by barczablog

Last summer I mentioned the Pride-themed display & sale at Bay St Video, when, in addition to HBO’s Behind The Candelabra (2013), the Michael Douglas / Matt Damon vehicle about Liberace, I picked up Another Country (1984). I’d been captured … Continue reading →

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TSO – tiff Vertigo: so old, so new

Posted on September 21, 2015 by barczablog

I saw precisely one film at tiff this year, a movie conceived when I was a toddler. While you might know it as “Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo”, I would be more inclined to call it “Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo”, especially when given … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | 1 Comment

Tafelmusik ask the forbidden question

Posted on September 18, 2015 by barczablog

If tonight’s Tafelmusik concert at Jeanne Lamon Hall (Trinity –St Paul’s Centre), with Mireille Lebel mezzo-soprano, and led by violinist Rodolfo Richter is any indication, I think we’ll see a lot more of him in future concerts. Richter doesn’t just … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | 5 Comments

Bicycle Opera: Shadow Box at Curbside Cycle

Posted on September 5, 2015 by barczablog

The Bicycle Opera Project are now in season four, cycling around from venue to venue, putting on opera. They carry their set, costumes & instruments along (except perhaps the piano…) in trailers pulled behind their cycles. I first encountered them … Continue reading →

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Karita Mattila at Koerner Hall: personalities on parade

Posted on August 8, 2015 by barczablog

There was more drama in this recital than any recital I can ever recall.  Karita Mattila assumed several roles, in several distinct voices in her concert tonight at Koerner Hall in Toronto as part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | 2 Comments

DIVE preview mesmerizing

Posted on July 31, 2015 by barczablog

I attended the preview performance of DIVE tonight, a new work from The Mermaid Collective: Nik Beeson, Alex Fallis, Fides Krucker and Richard Sanger. It’s quite erotic & funny, a little bit political and a powerful evocation of remembered passion. … Continue reading →

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