Category Archives: Reviews

Clemenza: Apollo’s Turn

Posted on February 4, 2013 by barczablog

After a week of thinking about Tristan und Isolde –at the COC, in the Opera Exchange, at the piano and rattling around inside my head—I was ready for something different.  Tristan is many things.  It’s humongous, it’s conceptual & symbolic, … Continue reading →

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Actors! at Winchester Kitchen

Posted on February 2, 2013 by barczablog

The show is Actors! Canadian Actors Up Close and Personal, and before I go any further I need to say that it’s not a show in the usual sense.  I hate telling you too much because I’d be stealing some … Continue reading →

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Esprit : Stars, Suns, Sacre

Posted on February 1, 2013 by barczablog

There were three items on the Esprit Orchestra program tonight in Koerner Hall, interconnected by the laws of physics. The center-piece was a performance of a reduced version of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps on the occasion of its centennial.  … Continue reading →

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Sellars market

Posted on January 27, 2013 by barczablog

At the intermissions of Tristan und Isolde Friday (dress rehearsal) there was madness in the air, a place rife with miscommunication.  Wagner himself said that good performances would make people mad (or crazy), so perhaps that was the problem.  A … Continue reading →

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Heppner, Sellars & Viola: Tristan in Toronto

Posted on January 26, 2013 by barczablog

It’s really good. That’s all you need to know.  The Canadian Opera Company’s imported production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (originally presented in Paris in 2005), directed by Peter Sellars with video by Bill Viola is quite simply unforgettable.   And … Continue reading →

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Silver Linings Playbook

Posted on January 21, 2013 by barczablog

The National Hockey League resumed play this weekend after a lengthy lockout.  I’m situated in Toronto, a city where fans cheer loudly while having lost all hope.  The Maple Leafs are widely understood to be the most successful and lucrative … Continue reading →

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Remembering Frida and Diego

Posted on January 9, 2013 by barczablog

Better late than never, right? In October I had the pleasure of walking through the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibit Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting, displaying artwork and images associated with the lives of Diego Rivera & Frida … Continue reading →

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Not so Incidental Music

Posted on January 6, 2013 by barczablog

November 21st I posted a kind of preliminary review of Lydia Perović’s first novel Incidental Music: preliminary because at that time, I hadn’t finished reading it yet. Now that i’ve finished reading the book i have more to say. A … Continue reading →

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High-def Troyens

Posted on January 6, 2013 by barczablog

Seeing Les Troyens at the Met Monday night, Elizabeth Bishop replaced Susan Graham as Dido, which led me to wonder who’d be singing the role in today’s high-definition broadcast. Silly me.  While it’s possible Graham was unwell Monday, her performance … Continue reading →

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Jan 1st Troyens

Posted on January 4, 2013 by barczablog

Francesca Zambello’s production of Berlioz’s Les Troyens has returned to the Metropolitan Opera.  When it premiered a decade ago it was Deborah Voigt as Cassandra, Ben Heppner as Aeneas and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson as Dido, conducted by James Levine. A … Continue reading →

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