Category Archives: Reviews

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 →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Barbara Hannigan “dissolved in swirling sound… a spark of the holy fire”

Posted on February 25, 2015 by barczablog

The title of the movement is “Entrückung”, the text by Stefan George, the score to the String Quartet by Arnold Schoenberg, the concert part of the New Creations Festival curated by George Benjamin, a late-afternoon incarnation of the Canadian Opera … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | 1 Comment

Wagnerian truths, whether on the COC stage or your own electronic device

Posted on February 20, 2015 by barczablog

Ah such a long title. I’m already being Wagnerian. He’s everywhere whether you know it or not, Wagner not precisely über alles, but still ubiquitous. We talked about him inevitably last night in class, discussing the dramaturgy of silent film, … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 7 Comments

“Don Giovanni or Don JianGhomeshi…?“

Posted on February 13, 2015 by barczablog

The quote in the headline is the witty riposte of Ian Henderson as part of the conversation about Dmitri Tcherniakov’s Don Giovanni. You may have thought of it as Mozart’s Don Giovanni,…? ha! but when a modern opera director gets … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 1 Comment

Tafelmusik’s Beethoven: the romance continues

Posted on January 26, 2015 by barczablog

Let’s begin by saying I’m not your typical Tafelmusik fan.  Yes I love their work with Opera Atelier under David Fallis & at Messiah time with Ivars Taurins (aka Herr Handel), but I am often frustrated by them.  Tafelmusik could … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment