Tag Archives: Franz Liszt

Discovering the brilliant virtuoso Tony Siqi Yun

Posted on November 24, 2025 by barczablog

“I am a lucky guy.” That’s my mantra as a person seeking to live a life of gratitude: and sometimes it has proven to be true. My friends Gary & Bill left town for a family bris, giving me tickets … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged classical-music, Ferruccio Busoni, Franz Liszt, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, JS Bach, Koerner Hall, Luciano Berio, piano, Tony Siqi Yun, Tony Yun, Wasserklavier | Leave a comment

George Li: virtuosity in the service of good taste

Posted on July 18, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight I had the pleasure of making my first acquaintance with pianist George Li, courtesy the Toronto Summer Music Festival, in an excellent concert at Koerner Hall. The four big works on the program plus the pair of encores all … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Chopin, classical-music, Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, George Li, Koerner Hall, Ludwig van Beethoven, Modest Mussorgsky, music, pianist, piano, Pictures at an Exhibition, Toronto Summer Music | Leave a comment

Inside the Cabinet Full of Curiosities 2, to be randomly presented by Apocryphonia

Posted on May 29, 2025 by barczablog

June 8th Apocryphonia will present a concert at Heliconian Hall titled “A Cabinet Full of Curiosities 2”. As the program says “an eclectic mix of classical music from around the world performed entirely at random!” Alex Cappellazzo, and his Apocryphonia … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Press Releases and Announcements | Tagged Alexander Cappellazzo, Apocryphonia, Cabinet of Curiosities, classical-music, Claude Debussy, embedded journalist, Franz Liszt, Heliconian Hall, Liebestod, music, Nuages, orchestra, pianist, piano, piano transcriptions, random, Richard Wagner | Leave a comment

Illia Ovcharenko recital in Toronto

Posted on March 5, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight Illia Ovcharenko played at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto. I can give you the list of items in the program, but it can’t possibly convey the experience, between the pieces you might know and the ones we’ve never … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged classical-music, exile, Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, Honens piano competition, Illia Ovcharenko, Jane Mallett Theatre, Levko Revutsky, Music TORONTO, pianist, piano, Ukraine, Valentin Silvestrov | Leave a comment

Interviewing pianist Illia Ovcharenko

Posted on February 20, 2025 by barczablog

Young pianist Illia Ovcharenko, winner of the 2022 Honens International Piano Competition, made a great impression at the Toronto Summer Music Festival in 2023. I remember expressing my hope that he would return. And he’s coming back Tuesday March 4th … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology | Tagged Borys Lyatoshinsky, classical-music, Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, Illia Ovcharenko, Jon Kimura Parker, Levko Revutsky, Litany, Music TORONTO, pianist, Sergey Bortkiewicz, Toronto Summer Music, Ukraine, Valentin Silvestrov, Vladimir Horowitz | Leave a comment

Varieties of virtuosity: an interview with Piano Lunaire founder Adam Sherkin

Posted on February 2, 2025 by barczablog

Last month I was delighted to discover Adam Sherkin at a free noon-hour concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, a brilliant pianist & composer I probably should have heard sooner and founder of Piano Lunaire. I jumped at the chance … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Adam Sherkin, Barbara Hannigan, Boris Lysenko, Brian Current, Canadian Opera Company, Franz Josef Haydn, Franz Liszt, Julien Bilodeau, La Reine-Garçon, Leon Fleisher, opera, paraphrase, piano, Piano Lunaire, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Stewart Goodyear, Thomas Adès, Udo Steingraeber, virtuosity, virtuoso | Leave a comment

Year(s) of Czech Music at the piano

Posted on December 17, 2024 by barczablog

2024 is the year of Czech Music, a celebration that’s held every decade in the year ending in 4. Speaking of ending, this year’s instalment is swiftly coming to a close, a year that saw the Canadian Opera Company present … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, My mother, University life | Tagged Ack Värmeland, Adagietto, Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, Bohemia, classical, classical-music, dumka, Edward Johnson Building Library, Franz Liszt, furiant, Gustav Mahler, Harvey Olnick, James Ehnes, Jan Lisiecki, John Holland, Jussi Björling, Ma vlast, music, orchestra, Otto Singer, piano, polka, Robert Keller, skocna, Slavonic Dances, sousedska, The Moldau, Year of Czech Music, Zubin Mehta | Leave a comment

Thinking about Richard Strauss’s death in 1949

Posted on August 29, 2024 by barczablog

On September 8, 1949 composer and conductor Richard Strauss died after a long productive life. I think of him as a romantic composer carrying on the stylistic traditions of Richard Wagner. In Salome and Elektra he was the modernist pushing … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Akhnaten, Ariadne auf Naxos, Bill Shookhoff, Claude Debussy, Franz Liszt, Hart House, Mathieu Marcil, Percy Grainger, Philip Glass, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Salome, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Venus in Furs | Leave a comment

TSO Rite of Spring, making a statement

Posted on September 22, 2023 by barczablog

You know you’re at a special concert when you can’t identify the highlight, between pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s flashy reading of the Gershwin Concerto in F before intermission, or an overwhelming Rite of Spring filling Roy Thomson Hall with sound. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Franz Liszt, George Gershwin, Gustavo Gimeno, Igor Stravinsky, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Lili Boulanger, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, TSO | Leave a comment

Competing icons at the RCM: Gould, Liszt and others

Posted on August 10, 2022 by barczablog

It’s a branding exercise to give a building a name. Roy Thomson has his hall. Both Rogers and Four Seasons have Centres. They already have The Glenn Gould School in the Royal Conservatory of Music. So why not also give … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Brian Current, Franz Liszt, Géza Stremeny, Gesamtkunstwerk, Glenn Gould, Gregory Finney, Lauren Pearl, Liza Balkan, Lydia Perović, modernist, Richard Wagner, Royal Conservatory of Music, Tamás Fekete | Leave a comment