Tag Archives: Canadian Opera Company

Thank you, Rob Ford

Posted on January 14, 2012 by barczablog

I learned about gratitude in Martin Seligman’s book Authentic Happiness.  Dr. Seligman is a key figure in a new kind of psychology, called “Positive Psychology”, positive because it’s oriented not on disorders and dysfunctions, but on happiness.  I am not … 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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A Man’s World

Posted on September 30, 2011 by barczablog

I saw the new Canadian Opera Company production of Rigoletto directed by Christopher Alden tonight.  It makes a nice companion to the Robert Carsen Iphigenia in Tauris that premiered last week to such acclaim.  Both productions are like close analyses … Continue reading →

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Carsen’s Iphigenia

Posted on September 23, 2011 by barczablog

Robert Carsen has once again held up a mirror to an opera by Gluck with the help of the Canadian Opera Company.  Last season it was an award winning production of Orfeo ed Euridice.  Tonight I saw Iphigenie en Tauride, … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Simone Osborne

Posted on August 20, 2011 by barczablog

Simone Osborne  will be taking the lead role of Gilda in the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto in September 2011.  I ask her ten questions: five about her and five about her upcoming role. 1) Which … Continue reading →

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Che faro senza COC?

Posted on May 27, 2011 by barczablog

Tonight, my last opera of the Canadian Opera Company 2010-2011 season, was my second trip into the special world of Robert Carsen’s Orfeo ed Euridice. I didn’t talk about the visuals in my review (awhile ago) because I strive to … Continue reading →

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COC Orfeo ed Euridice

Posted on May 9, 2011 by barczablog

Some subjects are so immense that the only way to put them onstage is by making them into opera.  Gluck‘s Orfeo ed Euridice takes on all the major topics—love, death and art –in a concise 90 minute plot.  They don’t … Continue reading →

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COC Nixon

Posted on February 25, 2011 by barczablog

Tonight I watched the Canadian Opera Company production of John Adams’ Nixon in China.  I saw the Met High Definition broadcast recently after acquiring the Naxos CD of the opera containing virtually the same cast as the one I saw … Continue reading →

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Kinder gentler Flute

Posted on February 4, 2011 by barczablog

I just saw the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.  Considering the reputation of its director, Diane Paulus, an American known for putting Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna into a planetarium and A Midsummernight’s Dream into … Continue reading →

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Lotfi Mansouri: An Operatic Journey

Posted on January 6, 2011 by barczablog

This is a book review I wrote for the newsletter of the Toronto Wagner Society. Lotfi Mansouri: An Operatic Journey Lotfi Mansouri with Donald Arthur The grin on the cover looks the same as ever.  Can this familiar figure really … Continue reading →

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