Tag Archives: Canadian Opera Company

A post-truth Fidelio

Posted on September 30, 2023 by barczablog

Last night the Canadian Opera Company had their opening night of Fidelio in a recent San Francisco Opera production directed by Matthew Ozawa, with set and projections designed by Alexander Nichols and costumes by Jessica Jahn. Their design concept is … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Alexander Nichols, Anna-Sophie Neher, Canadian Opera Company, Clay Hilley, Dimitry Ivashchenko, Fidelio, Four Seasons Centre, Jessica Jahn, Johannes Debus, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Josh Lovell, Ludwig van Beethoven, Matthew Ozawa, Miina-Liisa Värelä, Sava Vemic | Leave a comment

Tosca on my mind

Posted on May 29, 2023 by barczablog

Tosca is on my mind after the final performance yesterday. Several of Puccini’s melodies are having their way with me, stuck in my head. I’m not complaining. But I can’t stop thinking about the opera and the Canadian Opera Company’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Canadian Opera Company, Giacomo Puccini, Joseph Kerman, Opera as Drama, Paul Curran, Roland Wood, Tosca | 4 Comments

Macbeth closing performance: women have it harder

Posted on May 21, 2023 by barczablog

Three weeks ago I reviewed the powerful opening night of the new Sir David McVicar production of Verdi’s Macbeth from the Canadian Opera Company. Today I came full circle watching the last show of the run including exciting changes in … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Adam Luther, Canadian Opera Company, Charlotte Siegel, Elinor Ross, Four Seasons Centre, Giuseppe Verdi, Lady Macbeth, Louis Quilico, Macbeth, Matthew Cairns, Quinn Kelsey, Sir David McVicar, Speranza Scappucci, Tosca, Tracy Cantin | Leave a comment

Creepy COC Macbeth

Posted on May 1, 2023 by barczablog

On a dark rainy day in the midst of Toronto’s traffic chaos I was rendered speechless by the new Canadian Opera Company production of Verdi’s Macbeth directed by Sir David McVicar. I never knew this opera could move me so … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Adam Luther, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Canadian Opera Company, Clarence Frazer, Four Seasons Centre, Giuseppe Verdi, Louis Quilico, Macbeth, Matthew Cairns, Quinn Kelsey, Tracy Cantin, Vartan Gabrielian, William Shakespeare | 7 Comments

Excited by Canadian Opera Company 2023-24 season announcement

Posted on February 26, 2023 by barczablog

When I saw the email on Thursday from the Canadian Opera Company announcing their 2023-2024 season it moved me to say this on Facebook: That’s more like it! COC’s 2023-24 season: Fidelio, La Boheme, Cunning Little Vixen, Don Pasquale, Don … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Press Releases and Announcements | Tagged Alexander Neef, Canadian Opera Company, Perryn Leech | Leave a comment

Salome returns to tumultuous welcome

Posted on February 4, 2023 by barczablog

The Canadian Opera Company’s co-production of Richard Strauss’s Salome returned last night in the first of seven performances to huge applause. It’s a star vehicle for Ambur Braid in the title role, a wonderful first outing for Michael Schade as … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Ambur Braid, Atom Egoyan, Canadian Opera Company, Johannes Debus, Karita Mattila, Michael Kupfer-Radecky, Michael Schade, Richard Strauss, Salome | Leave a comment

Salome: from Matthew and Mark, through Oscar, Richard and Atom

Posted on February 1, 2023 by barczablog

It can be enjoyable to trace the changes in the way a story is adapted and/or interpreted. Salome begins in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Matthew 14:1-11 (NIV)1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Atom Egoyan, Canadian Opera Company, Oscar Wilde, Regietheater, Richard Strauss, Salome, The Ten Commandments | Leave a comment

Guth Ideas to save Figaro

Posted on January 29, 2023 by barczablog

The Canadian Opera Company have revived Claus Guth‘s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro that they presented to us in 2016, this time with a slightly different cast and conductor. The three and a half hours fly by on … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Andrea Carroll, Canadian Opera Company, Claus Guth, Doug MacNaughton, Emily Fons, Gordon Bintner, Harry Bicket, Lauren Fagan, Luca Pisaroni, Marcelo Buscaino, Mireille Asselin, Robert Pomakov, Sasha Djihanian, The Marriage of Figaro, Uli Kirsch, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

Best of 2022

Posted on January 9, 2023 by barczablog

I enjoy recalling the best moments of the past 12 months. There’s a fork in the road, however. One pathway leads towards that which is truly “new”, while the other relies on what we’ve seen before. Need I mention, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Alexander Neef, ARC Ensemble, Arkady Spivak, Canadian Opera Company, CERB, Chris Abraham, Conan and the Stone of Kelior, Corey Arnold, Crow's Theatre, Eldritch Theatre, Elisa Citterio, Eric Woolfe, Gay for Pay, Gould's Wall, Gustavo Gimeno, Joel Ivany, Kyle McDonald, Lauren Pearl, Michael Hidetoshi Mori, Nicole Lizée, OCADU, Perryn Leech, RCM, Royal Conservatory of Music, RUR A Torrent of Light, Simon Wynberg, Sweeney Todd, Tafelmusik, Talk is Free Theatre, Tapestry Opera, The Lion Heart, TIFT, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, TSO, Wajdi Mouawad, Yuja Wang | Leave a comment

Another look at Alden’s Dutchman, a first look at Harold Wilson

Posted on October 24, 2022 by barczablog

Today’s matinee was the Canadian Opera Company’s closing performance of The Flying Dutchman, complete with a singer making his debut. The American bass Harold Wilson stepped in for an indisposed Franz-Josef Selig in the role of Daland. When I looked … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Canadian Opera Company, Christopher Alden, Franz-Josef Selig, Harold Wilson, Johannes Debus, Marjorie Owens, Metropolitan Opera, Miles Mykkanen, Richard Wagner, The Flying Dutchman | 4 Comments