Category Archives: Reviews

Farewell to the Queen

Posted on April 30, 2013 by barczablog

This afternoon we said goodbye to Queen of Puddings Music Theatre in the same manner we’ve known them, namely through yet another premiere of a new work. QPMT’s finale under the auspices of the Canadian Opera Company’s free noon-hour series … Continue reading →

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Déjà Egoyan

Posted on April 28, 2013 by barczablog

The title is ambiguous, meaning several things. I am writing again about an Egoyan, this time Atom, after two recent rhapsodic pieces about his sister (concert & CD review) Egoyan returns again to Strauss’s Salome, a modified revival of a … Continue reading →

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carried away on the crest of a wave

Posted on April 26, 2013 by barczablog

You may have seen the poster for carried away on the crest of a wave, David Yee’s new play that just opened at Tarragon Theatre, directed by Nina Lee Aquino..  The title hints at its subject, namely the tsunami that … Continue reading →

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Robert Carsen’s Dialogues des Carmelites

Posted on April 23, 2013 by barczablog

Premiered in 1997 at Nederlandse Opera, seen at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and La Scala in Milan, Robert Carsen’s production of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites is better than a new production, because it’s an acclaimed classic.  And now … Continue reading →

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Stephen Bell: Kojuigatsus – longing for home

Posted on April 22, 2013 by barczablog

“Longing for home” is a phrase that resonates in North America, where everyone—immigrant or aboriginal—is in some sense displaced.  As a child born in Canada of Hungarian parents I am in a funny place, loyal to the old country of … Continue reading →

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Egoyan: teaching us how to hear

Posted on April 20, 2013 by barczablog

I was certainly ready for the concert I attended tonight at Glenn Gould studio, to launch Eve Egoyans CD 5 .  Work had drained me, and yes, i’d been listening to her CD a great deal. I found myself thinking … Continue reading →

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Lucia meets Carrie

Posted on April 18, 2013 by barczablog

Tonight the Canadian Opera Company opened their new production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, the dark tale of a bride forced to marry against her will who goes mad on her wedding night, killing her new husband.  This is not … Continue reading →

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Duo Concertante: Beethoven Violin Sonatas

Posted on April 17, 2013 by barczablog

When one thinks of Beethoven cycles, the mind immediately thinks of symphonies, piano sonatas and string quartets, forms in which we see the complete range of the composer’s voice.  The early ones remind us of Beethoven’s influences, such as Mozart … Continue reading →

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Eve Egoyan 5: reinventing the tone-row

Posted on April 15, 2013 by barczablog

Isn’t that life, in a way: trying to accommodate dissonance –Ann Southam In the realm of disco or heavy metal, we’re told to turn up the volume.  I saw something new, though, on the booklet for Eve Egoyan’s CD 5.  … Continue reading →

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Topher and “The French Connection”

Posted on April 9, 2013 by barczablog

I couldn’t help understanding Topher Mokrzewski’s concert today at the Richard Bradshaw Auditorium (the intimate concert space in the upper lobby of the Four Seasons Centre) as a goodbye.  As is usual, the introduction told us a bit of the … Continue reading →

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