Category Archives: Reviews

Nick Hamm nixes Will Tell ham

Posted on September 13, 2024 by barczablog

My headline is not just a nod to “Sticks Nix Hick Pix”. There truly was no ham to see in the gala World Premiere of William Tell, unless we include the man who wrote and directed, namely Nick Hamm speaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Reviews | Tagged Ben Kingsley, Claes Bang, Friedrich Schiller, Gioachino Rossini, Jonathan Pryce, Nick Hamm, Rosmersholm, Steven Price, The Sound of Music, William Tell | Leave a comment

Fresh Rosmersholm at Crow’s Theatre

Posted on September 12, 2024 by barczablog

You sometimes hear people tell you that a play from another century seems to speak directly to our own time. Last night watching Duncan Macmillan’s new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Rosmersholm at Crow’s Theatre directed by Chris Abraham was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Beau Dixon, Ben Carlson, Chris Abraham, Crow's Theatre, Diego Matamoros, Diego Matamoros) and with the sensitivity of director Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu, Duncan Macmillan, Guloien Theatre, Henrik Ibsen, Jonathan Young, Kate Hennig, Rosmersholm, Thomas Ryder Payne, Virgilia Griffith | Leave a comment

Beethoven Unleashed by TSM

Posted on August 2, 2024 by barczablog

Last night’s final 2024 Toronto Summer Music Festival concert at Koerner Hall, titled Beethoven Unleashed, featured the violin concerto and the Eroica Symphony, a perfect snapshot of TSM at its best. TSM combines the educational objectives of an academy and a showcase … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Jonathan Crow, Joseph Johnson, Kerson Leong, Koerner Hall, Ludwig van Beethoven, Simon Rivard, Toronto Summer Music, Toronto Summer Music Academy, Toronto Summer Music Festival | Leave a comment

Dreams and Shadows at TSM

Posted on July 30, 2024 by barczablog

A good pre-concert introduction from the artist can make a big impact. Last night’s Toronto Summer Music Concert by pianist Philip Chiu with violinist & TSM artistic director Jonathan Crow at Walter Hall was sold out. Titled “Dreams and Shadows” … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Elizabeth Raum, Johannes Brahms, Jonathan Crow, Jules Massenet, Juno, Kaija Saariaho, Matching campaign, Philip Chiu, Sergei Prokofiev, Toronto Summer Music, Violin Sonatas, Walter Hall | Leave a comment

Gimeno’s Mahler: reconciling Nietzsche, angels and pantheism

Posted on June 13, 2024 by barczablog

If that headline sounds like a mouthful you should hear Mahler’s 3rd Symphony. I just did tonight at Roy Thomson Hall. The Toronto Symphony led by music director Gustavo Gimeno aided by members of the Mendelssohn Choir, the Toronto Children’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Also Sprach Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche, Gerhild Romberger, Gustav Mahler, Gustavo Gimeno, Toronto Children's Chorus, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

Opera By Request premiere The Seagull

Posted on June 8, 2024 by barczablog

Friday night June 7th I witnessed the Canadian premiere of Thomas Pasatieri’s 1974 opera setting Kenward Elmslie’s libretto adapting Anton Chekhov’s 1896 play The Seagull, presented in concert by Opera by Request at the College St United Church. It can … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Andrew Tees, Anton Chekhov, Avery Krisman, Bill Shookhoff, Jenny Ribeiro, Katie Mills, Meagan Reimer, Michael Robert-Broder, Monica Zerbe, Opera by Request, Steven Henrikson, The Seagull, Tom Pasatieri | 1 Comment

Tafelmusik and Ivars Taurins celebrate Handel

Posted on June 1, 2024 by barczablog

Tafelmusik turned their choral specialist loose for their season-concluding Handel celebration concert. If you have any way of getting to this concert do so, a love-fest centred on Handel and his alter-ego Ivars Taurins. You may know Ivars Taurins for … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Amanda Forsythe, George Frideric Handel, Grégoire Jeay, Ivars Taurins, Koerner Hall, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Thomas Hobbs | Leave a comment

Philip Chiu’s Fables

Posted on May 12, 2024 by barczablog

I have been listening to FABLES, the excellent ATMA CD of piano music by Philip Chiu pairing two piano transcriptions of music by Ravel with Mnidoonskaa (A Multitude of Insects), a 2021 work by Anishinaabekwe composer Barbara Assiginaak. “Fables” makes … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged An Abundance of Insects, Barbara Assiginaak, Juno, Maurice Denis, Maurice Ravel, Mnidoonskaa, Mother Goose, Philip Chiu, piano, transcription | 1 Comment

My Little Brony: The Musical

Posted on April 11, 2024 by barczablog

It’s the morning after seeing My Little Brony: The Musical. The music was great, and we laughed a lot. It’s a delightfully enjoyable play. I went into it thinking about reviews and critics, wondering how I would approach a new … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Epochal Imp, Graham Conway, Justin Trudeau, My Little Brony: The Musical, My Little Pony, Nathaniel Bacon, Pierre Poilievre, Sky Gilbert, Stewart Borden | Leave a comment

Gimeno and Moussa: Ligeti, Wagner and Strauss’s Don Quixote

Posted on April 5, 2024 by barczablog

Last night’s brilliant concert at Roy Thomson Hall from the Toronto Symphony was improved by the introductory remarks from Music Director Gustavo Gimeno, explaining his unorthodox choices. The concert may have been titled “R Strauss’s Don Quixote” but Gimeno explained … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Don Quixote, Gustavo Gimeno, Gyorgy Ligeti, Jörgen van Rijen, Joseph Johnson, Lohengrin, Lontano, Parsifal, program music, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Samy Moussa, tone poem, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Yericho | Leave a comment