Category Archives: Reviews

TOT Land of Smiles

Posted on December 28, 2013 by barczablog

Every work is really several possibilities, depending on the emphases in the interpretation. There are several operas inside each opera, several musicals inside each musical. And this is particularly so when we speak of operetta, a form that can seem … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Curtis Sullivan, Derek Bate, Ernesto Ramirez, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Keenan Viau, Lara Ciekiewicz, Lehar, The Land of Smiles, Toronto Operetta Theatre | Leave a comment

AtG Messiah: without a net

Posted on December 15, 2013 by barczablog

We were promised something different, and they delivered. Against the Grain Theatre’s Messiah took a familiar piece and added something without disturbing the essential gold. Handel, Isaiah, Revelation (etc) are well served, in a piece entirely true to the name … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Geoffrey Sirett, Handel, Isaiah Bell, Jacqueline Woodley, Jennifer Nichols, Joel Ivany, Krisztina Szabo, Messiah | 5 Comments

Thinking about snobs, with Baz Luhrmann and Jay Gatsby

Posted on December 8, 2013 by barczablog

I’m thinking about two competing narratives lately, as I alluded at the beginning of my review of Singing the Earth. Is transcendent activism possible? Nelson Mandela seems to say yes. Rob Ford would agree, although he sees himself as an … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Claude Debussy, Clemenza di Tito, criticism, F Scott Fitzgerald, Isla Fisher, Jay Gatsby, Joel Edgerton, Ken Russell, Leonardo Di Caprio, Rob Ford, The Great Gatsby, Tobey Maguire, Tom Buchanan | 3 Comments

Singing the Earth: The Old & The New

Posted on December 6, 2013 by barczablog

Today is a day of contrasts. The morning paper brought more revelations about Toronto’s Mayor, while this afternoon’s social media story was the passing of Nelson Mandela. While Mandela seems to embody the possibilities for heroic activism nothing suggests that … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Anna Höstman, Banshi Hanuse, Continuum Contemporary Music, Cry Rock, Dylan Robinson, Gustav Mahler, Marion Newman, Nelson Mandela, Rufus Wainwright, Singing the Earth, The Song of the Earth | 1 Comment

And after Rota

Posted on December 4, 2013 by barczablog

The concert was titled “The Unknown Chamber Music of Nino Rota”. How could I resist, being already a fan of Rota’s film compositions? This is the man who gave us the iconic Godfather music. My favourite is his score for … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Amarcord, Amy Laing, Bela Bartok, Federico Fellini, Godfather, Goran Gojevic, Mary Kenedi, Nino Rota, Theresa Rudolph, Zoltan Kodaly | 1 Comment

A messed-up pattern

Posted on December 1, 2013 by barczablog

I used to think I was normal. But when you see the same pattern over and over in several films you start to wonder. Every comedy seems to be using the same template. I saw it in Bridesmaids. I saw … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Reviews | 4 Comments

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