Category Archives: Reviews

Dublin Messiah

Posted on December 18, 2011 by barczablog

The second annual Dublin Messiah presented by Aradia Ensemble was not sold out.  I wish I could comfort Aradia conductor & Artistic Director Kevin Mallon, considering that the competition — Toronto Symphony who are 90 years old, and Tafelmusik more … Continue reading →

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Bed and Breakfast

Posted on December 18, 2011 by barczablog

While the audience for Puppetmongers’ Bed & Breakfast includes children, the play contains plenty of adult laughs of which the kids are blissfully unaware.  Originally a one-person show written by and for Ann Powell (if it’s accurate to call something … Continue reading →

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Christmas Messiah

Posted on December 13, 2011 by barczablog

If it’s Advent season–the time immediately preceding Christmas–then it’s time for ballet companies to erase their deficits with the help of Tschaikowsky and The Nutcracker.   It’s time to shop for presents, time to eat drink and be merry. And –in … Continue reading →

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Boheme Against the Grain again

Posted on December 2, 2011 by barczablog

You can only be shocked that way once. When I attended the opening night of Against the Grain’s La bohème in June, it was thrilling to experience a modern adaptation of this well-worn opera in a downtown Toronto bar, in … Continue reading →

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Rusalka in Montréal

Posted on November 21, 2011 by barczablog

I was fortunate to see Rusalka in its final performance November 19th.at Opéra de Montréal, a co-production of Minnesota Opera & Boston Lyric Opera originally directed by Eric Simonson, remounted on this occasion by Bill Murray. The production had at … Continue reading →

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Chérubin

Posted on November 13, 2011 by barczablog

Essential Opera is a relative newcomer to the Toronto scene.  I watched their presentation of Massenet’s Chérubin tonight, a logical sequel considering that their debut earlier in 2011 (that I missed by the way) was Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. Massenet’s … Continue reading →

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Lepage’s Siegfried

Posted on November 6, 2011 by barczablog

I watched the latest instalment of Robert Lepage’s Ring cycle at the Metropolitan Opera in a high definition broadcast. The celebrated machine that is the star of the production continues to amuse and delight.  In the latest episode we see … Continue reading →

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Don Giovanni 2.0

Posted on October 30, 2011 by barczablog

Tonight I attended the opening night of Opera Atelier’s new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.  This is their second production of the opera in roughly a decade, one I am inclined to call Don Giovanni 2.0 because this feels like … Continue reading →

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HIP Don Giovanni

Posted on October 28, 2011 by barczablog

Facing the prospect of being saturated Saturday in the Dons Giovanni (what with a Met matinée and an opening night for Opera Atelier, offering the same opera twice in one day) I am surprising myself.  Even though I saw the … Continue reading →

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Rigoletto, second cast

Posted on October 18, 2011 by barczablog

I had another look/listen to the Canadian Opera Company’s Rigoletto Oct 17th in a performance that was substantially different from the cast that opened earlier this autumn: a different tenor a different soprano a different baritone a different conductor Christopher … Continue reading →

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