Category Archives: Reviews

Esprit Tunes the World

Posted on October 15, 2012 by barczablog

Tonight Esprit Orchestra, led by Conductor & Music Director Alex Pauk, marked the beginning of their 30th season with a program celebrating the excellence of Canadian music, a concert titled “The Tuning of the World”.  Of the five items presented … Continue reading →

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Second At Bat

Posted on October 13, 2012 by barczablog

I raved about the new Canadian Opera Company Die Fledermaus when it opened last week.  Tonight I had the privilege of another look with a slightly different cast. Some things inevitably work best the first time.  A joke with a … Continue reading →

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Dichterliebe

Posted on October 11, 2012 by barczablog

Are you seeing Dichterliebe from Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie (CLC) at the Citadel this week?  It’s a multi-media collaboration, and excuse me if that description is so common that it’s almost unintelligible; I’ll decode it in a moment. But you … Continue reading →

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The bat came back

Posted on October 8, 2012 by barczablog

The bat came back: from the dead that is. Forgive me for invoking one of my very favorite animated cartoons (and Richard Condie). I said BAT not CAT.   After many mediocre bats –productions of Die Fledermaus from the Canadian Opera … Continue reading →

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Fledermaus: just like our century

Posted on October 5, 2012 by barczablog

No matter how well they may sing, Johann Strauss Jr’s operetta Die Fledermaus requires its singers to act.  Although the music may be irresistible, I haven’t fully surrendered to any of the Fledermice I’ve seen.  No wonder it was usually … Continue reading →

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Safe asset: Kaffe Fassett

Posted on October 3, 2012 by barczablog

Today I escaped from the urban rat race in the company of hundreds of fans of designer Kaffe Fassett.  We’d gone where the GPS won’t go, somewhere in the vicinity of Brantford Ontario. Fassett is the Mick Jagger of the … Continue reading →

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Radical Cycle

Posted on September 30, 2012 by barczablog

When you think about it, the notion of a “radical cycle” is a bit of an oxymoron.  Cycles are usually understood to be stable and repeating, which is hard to imagine if something is radical. Radical Cycle is also the … Continue reading →

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The eternal question

Posted on September 30, 2012 by barczablog

Paper or plastic?  Shaken or stirred? How about Verdi or Wagner?  That was one big question tonight.  While some people chose to attend the opening of the COC’s Il trovatore, I opted for Wagner, namely Die Walküre.  Oh dear, …I’m … Continue reading →

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Fry and Wagner

Posted on September 28, 2012 by barczablog

It’s almost 2013, the bi-centennial for both Giuseppe Verdi & Richard Wagner (that is, a pair of composers born in 1813). Last night I watched the dress rehearsal of Il trovatore at the Canadian Opera Company’s Four Seasons Centre.  Tonight … Continue reading →

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Sounding amazing

Posted on September 27, 2012 by barczablog

I saw and heard the dress rehearsal of the new Canadian Opera Company Il trovatore at the Four Seasons Centre. While it’s understood that singers are permitted to mark, the headline tells you everything you need to know: Ramón Vargas’s … Continue reading →

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