Category Archives: Reviews

Graceful Orpheus will move you

Posted on April 12, 2015 by barczablog

I can’t think of a performing arts troupe with a more recognizable style than Opera Atelier. For the first twenty years of their existence (give or take a few seasons), they straight-jacketed themselves with the idea of authenticity, portraying themselves … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Louise in Concert

Posted on March 30, 2015 by barczablog

Concert performances of opera can be a wonderful alternative considering the expense of fully staged productions. Works that would otherwise rarely see the light of day –such as Rossini’s William Tell (hard to sing) or Benjamin’s Written on Skin (recently  composed) —are … Continue reading →

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Slattery & La Nef bring “Dowland in Dublin” to Toronto

Posted on March 28, 2015 by barczablog

The concept was discovered almost by accident. At a Christmas Party a few years ago, members of La Nef attempted to play the music of John Dowland as though he were Irish. It turns out that there’s evidence that Dowland … Continue reading →

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Opera Lyra’s Marriage of Figaro

Posted on March 22, 2015 by barczablog

As the climax of their thirtieth season Opera Lyra present Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, beginning with tonight’s opening performance.  This is an opera company that has come back from the brink, bouncing back from financial difficulty with a series … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 3 Comments

St John Passion: Charles Daniels evangelizing

Posted on March 20, 2015 by barczablog

Everything about the presentation of Bach’s St John Passion by Tafelmusik Baroque Choir & orchestra at Trinity St Paul’s Centre seemed fitting. You are in a church. The space has been somewhat converted for the use of the offspring of … Continue reading →

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Postcard from Morocco

Posted on March 15, 2015 by barczablog

If identity is performative, a mere construct that we enact, the demonstration of such notions would be wonderful material for the theatre.  And so it is when we come to Dominick Argento’s 1971 opera Postcard from Morocco, currently on offer … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews, University life | 1 Comment

Toronto Symphony hospitable to Noseda and Pieczonka

Posted on March 13, 2015 by barczablog

It was a rare performance by the Toronto Symphony tonight, inspired by guest conductor Gianandrea Noseda and the presence of soprano Adrianne Pieczonka. I can’t recall the last time they played with so much commitment, going back over decades of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | 6 Comments

Gleeful Purcell: hypothetical & unpretentious

Posted on March 7, 2015 by barczablog

Dido forgive me, but I had such a good time. Tonight’s concert at Trinity St Paul’s Centre felt like an experimental combination of elements, and when I say that I mean it in a good way.  I like ambition, I … Continue reading →

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TSO – A Mind of Winter

Posted on March 1, 2015 by barczablog

“A Mind of Winter” is the name of a composition as well as the title for tonight’s Toronto Symphony concert in their New Creations Festival, curated by composer George Benjamin and featuring the residency of singer & conductor Barbara Hannigan. … Continue reading →

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Soundstreams’ Whisper Opera and the meaning of meaning

Posted on February 28, 2015 by barczablog

It’s a cute phrase I heard in a Tom Robbins novel, as someone speaks in passing of “the meaning of meaning”. I love it because it simultaneously references our understanding (and what it means to mean) and yet sounds like … Continue reading →

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