Category Archives: Reviews

Launching Three Davids

Posted on June 9, 2013 by barczablog

Tonight a happy crowd packed Hugh’s Room for the launch of The Three Davids, a CD featuring music by three guys named David: the Davids Frishberg / Shire and Warrack. Onstage we listened to instrumentalists Charlie Gray, Alex Dean, David … Continue reading →

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Bruckner 6 Nézet-Séguin, Orchestre Métropolitain

Posted on June 7, 2013 by barczablog

I’ve been listening to Bruckner’s 6th Symphony, a recent ATMA Classique release by the Orchestre Métropolitain conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Not so long ago YN-M was a youngster seeking to make a name for himself, a relative unknown.  And Now? … Continue reading →

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Figaro’s Honeymoon

Posted on June 3, 2013 by barczablog

It’s summertime, a season when young men’s minds turn to mush, in the presence of humidity and hotness of various kinds.  Of course men have no monopoly on this, but I was just mis-quoting Tennyson.  I’m thinking of this as … Continue reading →

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Altared Figaro

Posted on May 30, 2013 by barczablog

If the dress fits, wear it! Against the Grain’s modern adaptation of The Marriage of Figaro, namely Figaro’s Wedding accomplishes almost everything it set out to do: tell the familiar story in a new way give us all that amazing … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | 3 Comments

Carsen Dialogues

Posted on May 24, 2013 by barczablog

I like to read a director’s notes before seeing a show, because they often contain clues about what you’re going to see. Robert Carsen’s take on Dialogues des Carmelites is a case in point. The production has been mounted all … Continue reading →

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Book of Dialogues

Posted on May 14, 2013 by barczablog

Momento #1 of that production I haven’t yet seen was the DVD.  I reviewed it a few weeks ago, fascinated to see Robert Carsen’s take on Poulenc’s opera Dialogues des Carmelites in its La Scala incarnation from 2004. I stumbled … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Opera, Reviews | Tagged | 2 Comments

A reception experiment: Lucia last night

Posted on May 10, 2013 by barczablog

I remember from Psych 100 that one of the ways scientists learned about the brain was from what they called natural experiments.  In the war, sometimes a man would suffer a catastrophic wound to part of his head, allowing scientists … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, Psychology and perception, Reviews | 2 Comments

Full Circle: JT and The 20/20 Experience

Posted on May 10, 2013 by barczablog

I seem to have come full circle with Justin Timberlake.  An opera-loving friend of mine moaned that Justin Timberlake is among the “Time 100“, a list purporting to identify the 100 most influential people in the world.  I don’t think … Continue reading →

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Toronto Opera Collaborative Le Cid

Posted on May 5, 2013 by barczablog

Tonight Toronto Opera Collaborative presented Massenet’s Le Cid, an opera that is outside the boundaries of what’s usually understood as the “standard repertoire” of operas one usually encounters in an opera house.  There’s a single piece that some might recognize, … Continue reading →

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Besame Opera

Posted on May 2, 2013 by barczablog

There’s lots of kissing in “Bésame Ópera”, the Spanish double bill from Opera 5 currently playing at Gallery 345.   Sometimes it’s even human beings doing it. I feel lucky that, by a curious coincidence, the new work in Monday’s … Continue reading →

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