Category Archives: Reviews

Trojans: three or is it four?

Posted on January 3, 2013 by barczablog

To my knowledge there are three versions of Hector Berlioz’s epic Les Troyens on DVD. I obtained the first when it came out as a VHS tape.  It’s now available re-mastered, capturing several remarkable performances from 1983, the Metropolitan Opera … Continue reading →

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Gourmet Schnitzel House

Posted on December 28, 2012 by barczablog

My usual procedure is to write as soon as possible.  I try for a report that’s authentic in its immediacy, even as I sometimes admit ignorance on some matters.  Sometimes I may struggle a bit, but I never put myself … Continue reading →

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Tristan und Isolde –Glyndebourne 2007

Posted on December 27, 2012 by barczablog

As Toronto audiences gear up for a new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde they could do worse than to watch a free video feed of the 2007 Glyndebourne production conducted by Jiří Bĕlohlávek (the man originally slated to conduct … Continue reading →

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Messianic

Posted on December 24, 2012 by barczablog

In one of the early essays “On German Music”, Richard Wagner said, comparing the French to the Germans, that Germans “are generally more prone to fall beneath a foreign influence than is good for the preservation of a certain self-dependence.”  … Continue reading →

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No costume necessary

Posted on December 20, 2012 by barczablog

Tonight I witnessed the first of Tafelmusik’s annual presentations of Händel’s Messiah at Koerner Hall, being presented nightly until the 22nd, followed by the annual singalong Messiah on the afternoon of the 23rd at Massey Hall. The four at Koerner … Continue reading →

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Beatrice Rana – Chopin and Scriabin

Posted on December 19, 2012 by barczablog

When you like a composition, chances are you’ll listen to a recording by a new unfamiliar artist whether or not you’ve heard any fanfare or PR.  And so, when I saw that Beatrice Rana’s debut recording with ATMA Classical was … Continue reading →

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La Scala Lohengrin 2012

Posted on December 11, 2012 by barczablog

Wagner’s Lohengrin opened the season at La Scala, Milan in a new production directed by Claus Guth.  That it was Wagner rather than Verdi in this season of centennials—both Guiseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner were born in 1813—is the least … Continue reading →

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$5.99 or $4000.00?

Posted on December 9, 2012 by barczablog

Psycho-therapists in films can be very funny, very painful, and yes, painfully funny.   Sometimes what we’re given is patently false & artificial, but occasionally we see something with more than a grain of truth. Hollywood knows psychiatry the way it … Continue reading →

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Opera Eats

Posted on December 5, 2012 by barczablog

There are more talented artists graduating from the programs training them than there are possible jobs.  It’s one reason we have Fringe Festivals: because we’ve trained so many good young actors, directors & playwrights, that they can create their own … Continue reading →

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Pina Bausch: Orpheus und Eurydike

Posted on December 3, 2012 by barczablog

I saw Pina Bausch’s Orpheus und Eurydike on TFO tonight, a dance piece based on the Gluck opera, in a respectful production of a work originally created in the mid-1970s, conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock.  This live production dates from 2008, … Continue reading →

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