Category Archives: Reviews

Soundstreams’ Garden of Vanished Pleasures on a dark Toronto weekend

Posted on April 27, 2025 by barczablog

In 2021 the COVID pandemic disrupted the plans by Soundstreams to present their original production Garden of Vanished Pleasures, a music-theatre work about Derek Jarman, the gay activist, film-maker & poet who died of AIDS related complications in 1994, devised … Continue reading →

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Celebración hispana from Gimeno, Gomyo & TSO

Posted on April 26, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight is the first of three voyages into the heart of the hispanic as imagined in music, guided by Toronto Symphony Music Director Gustavo Gimeno, a program to be repeated Saturday and Sunday that feels like a genuine celebration. While … Continue reading →

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Yuja Wang plays Tchaikovsky with the Toronto Symphony

Posted on April 17, 2025 by barczablog

I have never seen Roy Thomson Hall as full as it was tonight, Wednesday April 16th. They had a cop directing the cars out of the underground parking garage: because so many people came to see Yuja Wang play the … Continue reading →

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Opera Atelier bring David and Jonathan to Toronto

Posted on April 10, 2025 by barczablog

Opera Atelier brought their opulent 2022 Versailles production of Marc Antoine Charpentier’s 1688 opera/ballet David and Jonathan to Koerner Hall in Toronto. Artistic Director Marshall Pynkoski reminded us last night in his pre-show speech that the company began forty years … Continue reading →

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Missa Solemnis from Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony

Posted on April 5, 2025 by barczablog

Friday April 4th the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir conducted by Jean-Sébastien Vallée presented Beethoven’s glorious Missa Solemnis to a partially – full Roy Thomson Hall. The Missa Solemnis is a perfect showcase for JS and his impeccable baton work leading this … Continue reading →

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TSO, Angela Hewitt & Marta Gardolińska

Posted on March 27, 2025 by barczablog

I went home satisfied from tonight’s Toronto Symphony concert, a program including some items exactly as expected plus a few surprises. For an evening titled “Angela Hewitt Plays Mozart” it was a very solid collaboration between the famous pianist and … Continue reading →

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Gustavo Gimeno wears his heart on his sleeve in Mahler’s Fourth with Toronto Symphony and Anna Prohaska

Posted on March 21, 2025 by barczablog

Last night the Toronto Symphony celebrated an honour to their music director Gustavo Gimeno from his homeland, while affirming connections to Toronto, his new home. Gimeno was appointed Commander of the Order of Civil Merit (Encomienda de la Orden del … Continue reading →

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Baroque and Folk: adventures with Tafelmusik and Miloš Valent

Posted on March 8, 2025 by barczablog

I was completely blown away by the latest Tafelmusik concert I saw and heard tonight. It’s a reminder that, while we associate Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with music from long ago, that doesn’t mean they can’t surprise you with something new. … Continue reading →

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Illia Ovcharenko recital in Toronto

Posted on March 5, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight Illia Ovcharenko played at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto. I can give you the list of items in the program, but it can’t possibly convey the experience, between the pieces you might know and the ones we’ve never … Continue reading →

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Toronto Operetta Theatre’s Gondoliers prescription for what ails you

Posted on March 1, 2025 by barczablog

I arrived at the Jane Mallett Theatre in a bad mood. I don’t think I’m the only one finding the news on television hard to take. Between the arguments between Zelensky and the White House, or the outcome of the … Continue reading →

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