Tag Archives: Canadian Opera Company

10 Questions for Tamara Wilson

Posted on August 31, 2012 by barczablog

Tamara Wilson is a soprano who’s going places, a major talent with the voice to be a star. An alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Wilson’s awards include the George London Award from the George London Foundation, as well … Continue reading →

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COC Podcast

Posted on August 25, 2012 by barczablog

The conversation about the arts is as much about the audience as it is about the art.  If you’re marketing the question can be one of identification (who’s coming to see/hear) as much as how to find, connect with and … Continue reading →

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Contracts renewed

Posted on August 7, 2012 by barczablog

My Canadian Opera Company ticket subscription arrived in the mail today.  I was never in doubt about renewing the tickets, still starry eyed by the new building and the overall quality of what we’ve been getting. Even so—I tell myself—it’s … Continue reading →

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Carsen’s Tosca

Posted on July 31, 2012 by barczablog

Toronto is belatedly getting to know one of its own.  Opera Director Robert Carsen, who’s made a name for himself worldwide has only recently directed productions in Toronto. And how romantic is it that—as if to make up for lost … Continue reading →

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Jean Cox

Posted on June 27, 2012 by barczablog

I’ve been thinking about Jean Cox. Cox was a great American heldentenor, who died on Sunday.  By coincidence it’s the same day that Franz Crass passed, and not many weeks after the death of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. I am pondering the … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Mireille Asselin

Posted on May 19, 2012 by barczablog

A singer deemed “Superb” by the Los Angeles Times, praised by Opera Canada for her “vivacious stage presence” and “soprano that charms and brightens a room”, the grateful recipient of Opera Hamilton’s Sheila Zack Scholarship for Emerging Artists, Mireille Asselin … Continue reading →

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Jane Archibald as Semele

Posted on May 12, 2012 by barczablog

You never can tell.  I would never have predicted which opera would be my favourite of the seven operas programmed this season by the Canadian Opera Company.  Both the adventurous staging and the consistently brilliant singing make Handel’s Semele by … Continue reading →

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Handel and Zhang: great minds thinking alike

Posted on April 28, 2012 by barczablog

I’m writing about two men who made some odd choices, showing a parallel brilliance even though separated by centuries. George Frederic Handel was simply trying to make a living, a composer whose works were sometimes welcomed, sometimes not.  Semele, with … Continue reading →

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Two from Florence

Posted on April 27, 2012 by barczablog

The double bill of Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy with Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, currently being presented by the Canadian Opera Company, is a marriage made in heaven, a pair of complementary opposites who seem to belong together. They’re alike in some … Continue reading →

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COC Parsifal

Posted on February 25, 2012 by barczablog

Richard Wagner figures prominently in the Canadian Opera Company’s plans.  Two Wagner operas, not one were announced for the future. You may have missed any mention of the second opera.  The announcement of the 2012-2013 season (a year of world-wide … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, Opera | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments