Category Archives: Reviews

Live Light in the Piazza

Posted on October 31, 2013 by barczablog

On June 15th 2006, Beverly Sills welcomed the television audience to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre for a live performance of The Light in the Piazza.  Yes, I was busy that night in June 2006, unaware that I should have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

R.I.P.

Posted on October 28, 2013 by barczablog

“Requiescat in Pace” is the last line in the third of three operas presented by Opera 5, namely Cecilia Livingston’s The Masque of the Red Death, whereby we had the name for the evening’s program. I wonder if Poe’s story … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Italian Lesson

Posted on October 27, 2013 by barczablog

Yesterday I was on the University of Western Ontario campus, attending a special performance of Lee Hoiby’s The Italian Lesson in a production from Diva Lounge Productions.  UWO welcomed back alumnae Sonja Gustafson (soprano & Diva Lounge founder) and Tanya … Continue reading →

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Opera Atelier Abduction from the Seraglio

Posted on October 25, 2013 by barczablog

I had a wonderful time at the dress rehearsal for Opera Atelier’s new Abduction from the Seraglio.  It’s a remount but as usual they probed more deeply this time, accentuating the comic elements of the work.  Anyone who’s seen this … Continue reading →

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Symbolic Meatballs II

Posted on October 20, 2013 by barczablog

Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs II continues more or less where the first left off.  The story resumes a short time after the end of the first film, that I saw (and reviewed) just a little while ago.   I … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Reviews | 2 Comments

Feral piano: Beatriz Boizán

Posted on October 19, 2013 by barczablog

It’s a truism that some artists are different in live situations than on record.  The presence of an audience can inspire & illuminate a performance in a way that doesn’t happen in a studio. That’s what I experienced tonight.  When … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

COC Peter Grimes

Posted on October 18, 2013 by barczablog

Tonight I saw the Canadian Opera Company production of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes.  I’m late getting to the party for a production that opened on October 5th, but I was out of town that weekend.  Regular readers of newspaper reviews … Continue reading →

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Cloudy with a chance of symbolism

Posted on October 10, 2013 by barczablog

It’s such a silly title that i couldn’t resist having some fun with it. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is the best children’s film I’ve seen in a very long time, one of those films full of lines & … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Reviews | 1 Comment

Caird & Farley’s Conceptual Bohème

Posted on October 4, 2013 by barczablog

The Canadian Opera Company opened their 2013-2014 season tonight with Puccini’s La Bohème at the Four Seasons Centre.  It’s a new COC co-production with Houston Grand Opera & San Francisco Opera directed by John Caird & designed by David Farley. … Continue reading →

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The end of the beginning

Posted on September 26, 2013 by barczablog

I thought about what to call this, the first free concert of the season from the Canadian Opera Company at the Richard Bradshaw Auditorium: Alpha & Omega? (no… too Biblical) Ave Atque Vale? (no…obscure) Alumni Reunion? (hm….partly) The first program … Continue reading →

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