Category Archives: Reviews

Guggenheim’s Great Upheaval at the AGO

Posted on November 26, 2013 by barczablog

There’s a moment in Terry Gilliam’s Adventures of Baron Munchausen when Vulcan is pressing carbon into a diamond for his wife Venus, and of course she expresses her gratitude, a moment before handing the thing to a lady in waiting … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Reviews | Tagged Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Ai Weiwei, Art Gallery of Ontario, Branciusi, Cezanne, Chagall, Claude Debussy, David Bowie, Degas, Delaunay, discursive community, Duchamp, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Marc, Gaugin, Guggenheim Museum, Kandinsky, Kupka, manifesto, Maurice Denis, Mondrian, Pelleas et Melisande, Picasso, Seurat, Terry Gilliam, The Great Upheaval, Turner, van Gogh, Venus, Vulcan | 3 Comments

Gloriana

Posted on November 25, 2013 by barczablog

It’s such a privilege to see a rare work. Whatever else I might say about the Voicebox/Opera in Concert presentation of Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana on the occasion of the composer’s centennial, I’m thankful for this encounter with the score. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Adam Luther, Benjamin Britten, Betty Waynne Allison, Gloriana, Jane Mallet Theatre, Jennifer Ann Sullivan, Opera in Concert, Voicebox | 2 Comments

Needles and Opium

Posted on November 23, 2013 by barczablog

I’ve just come from one of the most absorbing 105 minutes I’ve ever passed in a theatre, thanks to Robert Lepage. I take it on faith (from the program, and from the time on my phone when I came out), … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Bluma Appel Theatre, Canadian Stage, Eonnagata, Ex Machina, Marc Labreche, Needles and Opium, Robert Lepage, Wellesley Robertson III | 6 Comments

JFK: Choose your conspiracy

Posted on November 22, 2013 by barczablog

November 22nd? It’s Saint Cecilia’s Day, the patron saint of music. It’s Benjamin Britten’s birthday, which this year means his centennial. Okay, those are all in the fine print. Written on my psyche since childhood? November 22nd 1963. Every other … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Politics, Popular music & culture, Reviews | Tagged Aaron Copland, Donald Sutherland, Edward Asner, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, JFK, Joe Pesci, John Candy, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, John Williams, Kevin Costner, Oliver Stone, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones | 2 Comments

Esprit /Evergreen: O Gamelan

Posted on November 18, 2013 by barczablog

“O Gamelan” is both José Evangelista’s composition & a handy name for tonight’s program by Esprit Orchestra, suggesting a genuine reverence for the Balinese ensemble of that name. Many of the works on the program employed some or all of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Alex Pauk, Andre Ristic, Chan Ka Nin, Claude Vivier, Douglas Perry, Esprit Orchestra, Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, José Evangelista, Lou Harrison | 3 Comments

Christian Jeffries: The Truth About Xmas

Posted on November 16, 2013 by barczablog

I’ve never fully swallowed the Norman Rockwell images showing big happy families at Christmas, which leaves me much more comfortable coming at Christmas via angst than angels. No wonder I feel as though I’m on the same page with Christian … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Christian Jeffries, Donavan LeNabat | Leave a comment

Tcherniakov’s Serendipitous Trovatore

Posted on November 11, 2013 by barczablog

Having seen a small local production of Verdi’s Il trovatore in Richmond Hill Saturday night, the tunes & situations were very fresh in my head tonight for a broadcast of a 2012 production of the very same opera with big … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Dmitri Tcherniakov, Il Trovatore, La Monnaie, Marina Poplavskaya, Misha Didyk, Prince Igor, Ruslan und Ludmilla, Scott Hendricks, Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo | 1 Comment

Opera York: True to Verdi

Posted on November 10, 2013 by barczablog

It’s exciting when you get a chance to test an offbeat theory, and even more exciting when you prove it. Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore was at one time –perhaps at the end of the 19th century—the most popular opera in … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged COC, Giuseppe Verdi, Il Trovatore, Kristine Dandavino, Nicolae Raiciu, operabase, Paul Williamson | 1 Comment

Late to the party: The Double’s Trio

Posted on November 4, 2013 by barczablog

Getting to Tarragon Theatre’s Extraspace 20 minutes before the start of The Double, would have been early for most shows in Toronto. But all the good seats were gone, and so we were forced to sit near the back. I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Adam Paolozza, Arif Mirabdolbaghi, Dostoevsky, The Double, Viktor Lukawski | 5 Comments

Bogdanowicz & Ramirez: a common language

Posted on November 2, 2013 by barczablog

I met some new people tonight. Some of them were singers, some were composers, and everyone got along beautifully in several languages. Tonight Michèle Bogdanowicz and Ernesto Ramirez sang a quintessentially Canadian program at Gallery 345, with pianist Rachel Andrist. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Beatriz Boizán, Ernesto Ramirez, Frederic Chopin, Gallery 345, Michèle Bogdanowicz, Rachel Andrist, Stephen Bell, Viardot | 9 Comments