Tag Archives: Franz Liszt

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

The Music of Our Time: John Williams at 90

Posted on February 4, 2022 by barczablog

It can be awe-inspiring to look at a composer’s lifetime of work. We know that JS Bach composed over 1,000 pieces in his 65 years, while Mozart, who lived only 35 years, composed perhaps 600 pieces. Yet we only care … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology | Tagged Boston Pops, Bruce Springsteen, ET the Extra-terrestrial, Fiddler on the Roof, film music, film-score, Franz Liszt, Jaws, John Williams, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Rossini, Schindler's List, Sergei Rachmaninoff, star wars, Supertramp, Taylor Swift, The Beatles | 1 Comment

Baudelaire Bicentennial

Posted on April 10, 2021 by barczablog

I must be brief. How does one speak of the bicentennial of a poet such as Charles Baudelaire, born two hundred years ago on April 9th in 1821? how to find the right words,…? Some know him for his poetry, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Alexander Ross, Charles Baudelaire, Correspondances, Fleurs du maI, Franz Liszt, Lohengrin, modern, modernist, Richard Wagner | Leave a comment

Wohin: where do we go from here? now what?

Posted on December 31, 2020 by barczablog

As we come to the end of 2020, we may wonder. Where do we go from here? Now what? It’s in that spirit that I invoke a Schubert song, “Wohin” from his cycle Die Schöne Müllerin. First there was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Fritz Wunderlich, Matthias Goerne, Peter Schreier, Sergei Rachmaninoff, The brooklet, Thomas Quasthoff, Wohin | Leave a comment

Beethoven 250: 2020 vision

Posted on December 15, 2020 by barczablog

It’s an oxymoron of a year, this 2020 that is a little over two weeks from its conclusion. Social butterflies (those of us who self-identify as extroverts & are therefore energized by other people) have no choice but to go … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology | Tagged An die ferne Geliebte, Beethoven 250, Franz Liszt, Gerald Moore, Immortal Beloved, Ludwig van Beethoven, Muzak, Richard Wagner | Leave a comment

Leaning into the Unknowable @nationalballet

Posted on March 2, 2020 by barczablog

As I consider renewing my Canadian Opera Company subscription, it was worth having a look at the other company occupying the Four Seasons Centre. Watching the new program at the National Ballet of Canada was a great way to spend … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged crystal pite, David Briskin, Franz Liszt, Greta Hodgkinson, Karen Kain, National Ballet of Canada, Sir Frederick Ashton, Wayne McGregor | 4 Comments

The Lost Karaoke Tapes

Posted on January 31, 2020 by barczablog

I’m impressed. Nicole Lizée has more reason to be pompous & full of herself than any composer or performer I know. But she seems to be totally unpretentious. Exhibit “A”: the piece we saw & heard tonight is called “Karappo … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Popular music & culture, Psychology and perception, Reviews | Tagged Alanis Morissette, Corey Hart, David Foster, Franz Liszt, George Gershwin, Georgie Darvidis, Grease, John Travolta, Loverboy, Maurice Denis, Mr Dressup, Nicole Lizee, Rob Lowe, Robert Wilson, Scott Walker, Turn me loose | 3 Comments

Lisztomania CD

Posted on December 30, 2019 by barczablog

Lisztomania? It was a Ken Russell film. And the name described an actual phenomenon, crazed admirers of the great pianist Franz Liszt aka Liszt Ferenc back in the 19th Century. And there’s a CD from Mikolaj Warszynski, capturing a live … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, George Gershwin, Gregory Oh, Johann Strauss Jr, Ken Russell, Lisztomania, Mikolaj Warszynski, Nicole Lizee, Scott Walker | 2 Comments

Not quite forgotten: Liszt’s Valses oubliées

Posted on October 6, 2019 by barczablog

The composer centennials & bicentennials may be artificial stimuli to research, but the effect is real. Knowing that everyone is suddenly focusing upon a particular period seems to inspire all sorts of interesting studies, conferences where people share their research … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Psychology and perception | Tagged disability, Franz Liszt, Mária Eckhardt, Peter Jost, Valses oubliées, virtuosity, Vladimir Horowitz | 1 Comment

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique & the fork in the recreational road

Posted on September 19, 2018 by barczablog

I’m responding as much to the serendipity of timing as anything else. Recreational marijuana becomes legal in Ontario next month. The Toronto Symphony are about to begin their 2018-19 season with Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Is there a connection? I think … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception | Tagged ankylosing spondylitis, CBD, Dr Charles Bull, Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, Jane Austen, Kubla Khan, marijuana, Mike Jay, Northanger Abbey, NSAIDs, recreation, recreational use, Samuel Tayloy Coleridge, Symphonie Fantastique, THC | 2 Comments